Now I've Seen It All
by sussiekitten
Summary: Very AU – Sharing had never been this much fun before. Tornac/Murtagh/Eragon. Mature content.
1. Just A Taste

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Eragon or anything associated with the Inheritance Cycle.

**Claimer: **I, SussieKitten, own this plot and the story. Borrow or steal my plot, my original characters (Aksel) or story and I will report you. I also own my version of Saphira/Thorn's human appearances.

**Warnings:** Slash/Yaoi – meaning guy x guy action. Slash/Shōnen-ai – meaning mild guy x guy action. Femslash/Shōjo-ai – meaning mild girl x girl action. Het – meaning mild guy x girl action. Swearing or strong language. Mentions of drinking. Mature content – hints of sexual intercourse. If any of this disturbs you, click on the "back" button. I won't tolerate any flames.

**A/N** I wanted to add a note about something that my beta made me aware of. The Tornac that appears in this story is the guy that Murtagh knew when he was younger. You know, the guy he named his horse after? This is not Tornac the horse turned into a human. The Tornac in this story is my version of the guy.

A huge thanks is owed to my beta **Illyric** who not only read this monstrosity, but convinced me to post it. Now I'm going to crawl into a hole and not check my email account for at least 48 hours in fear of what I might find. :walks off to do that:

To my _Obsession_ fans; yes, I'm still writing on it. But due to busyness that has been enforced on me and my beta, I don't know when chapter fifteen will be posted. Please have patience.

**EDIT (16th of September)**

Due to FFNet's regulations, I have edited out parts of this chapter. The link to the unedited version of this chapter, along with the other unedited versions of my stories can be found on my "homepage". The rest of the stories in question will be up shortly.

* * *

**NOW I'VE SEEN IT ALL**

**Part One;_ Just A Taste_**

Hot. He was burning, burning inside. His heart was racing in his chest, the beat echoing in his ears.

He could hardly breathe. Two hands ghosted up his sides, a hot tongue sliding over the shell of his ear. They ghosted down again, gripping his hips as the mouth glided down, stilling on his neck and sucked. He arched his back, feeling his shoulders meet the warm and slick body behind him.

He was sitting up, he knew as much. But no matter how hard he tried, the air he breathed in was hot and heavy. The scents around him were thick in his throat, making his heart beat even faster. And then a new stab of pleasure coursed through him. He moaned.

There was a second set of hands keeping his legs spread. A loud cry was torn from his lips at the unexpected stab of pleasure. White flashed before his eyes.

He could breathe again. The heat around his member left. The lips on his neck left, only to appear again next to his ear, whispering something he tried to make out, but couldn't.

He knew what it was, though. He hadn't known when he had agreed to this earlier, but he knew now.

He knew it still wasn't over.

**::Seen It All::**

_(Earlier that same night...)_

Eragon hated parties. He hated college parties even more, but one of his friends -Aksel, the idiot- insisted he'd at least go to one before the year was up. Seeing it was now the end of May and all the exams were completed, he no longer had an excuse not to go. School was would be over in just a week and a half. And when the rest of his friends backed Aksel up, there was no way he could get away.

So there he was, caught in the middle of his first college-level party. He had already decided that this was going to be his first and last party, and that he was going to survive it in a sober state. The drunk guy he had seen upon entering had killed his wish to drink himself nearly to death. There was no way he was getting forced into a too-small bikini and singing "one hundred bottles of beer on the wall" while dancing very off-beat to the music.

Eragon had also made sure to stay away from any slurring and groping shapes. While he was no virgin, he did not like to be groped by random guys. Random _drunk_ guys. Drunk people, in his opinion, tended not to understand the word 'no' very well. So he stayed close to the walls, edging away from any humping shapes that came near him, and made sure his water remained clean.

He noticed just how underdressed he was for the event. Or rather, how _overly_ dressed he was. Many of the guys weren't wearing shirts, and the girls were parading around in skimpy shorts and tiny bras. Eragon, with his loose jeans and plain shirt, felt very visible.

Aksel chose to enter then. His entire front was drenched in something Eragon hoped was water, as it was wetting his own shirt when Aksel glomped him. Some of Aksel's hair was wet as well, making his dirty blond hair appear even darker and more droopy. Aksel did not look like himself when his hair wasn't up in its wild style, Eragon noticed.

When Aksel tightened his grip, weighing him down further, Eragon snapped back to the present. "Aksel, get off," he scowled.

"You should join the fun!" Aksel grinned. His breath told Eragon he was still sober, thank god. A drunken Aksel was a very overly affectionate being. Eragon had no wish to slam his fist into his friend's face today.

Eragon took another look at Aksel. "What fun? A wet t-shirt contest?"

"No, silly. Wet t-shirt contests are so last year," Aksel's grin turned into a leer. "It's a -"

"You know what? I don't want to know," Eragon inched away from him. "If you like it, it has to be perverted."

"Y'know, I kinda feel offended by that," Aksel pouted.

Eragon scowled when he noticed that his hair was getting wet as well. How much water -because Aksel was dead if it wasn't- had Aksel gotten drenched with?

"Aksel, get off," he repeated. "You're making me wet."

"Whoops!" the blond laughed and let go. Eragon glared at him. Oh yes, his shirt was very much wet now. He was very glad he had chosen a black shirt. At least the moisture wasn't visible. But seeing the right side of his face was plastered with wet hair, it was very noticeable that he was wet nonetheless.

"All 'm saying is that you should let loose a little," Aksel shrugged. "You can't stand in a corner all night, 'Agon."

"I can and I will," Eragon crossed his arms.

"Tsk. Spoilsport," Aksel shook his head. "Either you mingle with the fornicating people, or I make you."

"That's exactly why I don't want to mingle with them!" Eragon hissed and pointed to the 'dancing' -if you called humping dancing- crowd. "They're dry-humping! No thank you."

"Y'know, you have got to be the most pude-ish non-virgin I've ever met."

Eragon was glad Aksel had said this in a normal voice, or Eragon would have smashed his face in. "Fuck you."

Aksel laughed loudly. "No thanks, jailbait," he winked.

Eragon spluttered. "I'm nineteen, you asshole!" he hissed.

"I know," Aksel smirked and patted his cheek. "And you still look like a sixteen year old."

Eragon glared at him as the blond squeezed into the dancing -_humping_, damnit- mass and was gone. He scowled and took a sip of his water. Really, it had been too easy to sneak a cup filled with punch, dump it out and fill it with water. To his spectators it looked like he was drinking himself beyond reason. Unfortunately he wasn't.

The brunet sighed and pushed away from the wall. Time for a refill. He squared his shoulders and started to head towards the outer part of the crowd. Usually it was easier to get around people there.

Even if it was fewer people there, Eragon still bumped into the occasional couple. He didn't know why, but he always muttered a soft apology and carried on. It wasn't like they noticed him, but he had been taught to apologise when running into people, and he just couldn't turn it off. Damn manners.

He ran into the tenth couple of the evening and muttered a quiet "sorry". He never made it farther, though. Eragon had made the mistake of looking up, and now he was staring at his best friend getting molested by some tall redheaded dude.

Eragon forced himself to blink and look away. Saphira didn't appear to mind the hand up her singlet -the sweater she had worn upon arrival seemed to have mysteriously disappeared- or the face-eating. Oh no. Judging by the hands that were grabbing the guy's ass and the moaning, she didn't mind at all. Eragon blushed, forced himself to stop thinking about it and moved on.

It was hard for him to think of Saphira as sexually active. She just seemed too sweet and innocent, though half of the suggestive comments made by his friends came from her. He shook his head and slid into the kitchen. There was another pair there, half-naked and steadily getting more naked. Eragon ignored them and walked up to the sink, refilling the cup before walking out.

Eragon wasn't sure where he was, exactly. Aksel, Saphira and Arya had just forced him to tag along. It was some clubhouse of sorts. It had an awful lot of rooms, though, and Eragon knew what each and every one had been and was being used for. When people said that young adults were horny, they weren't kidding.

Most of the rooms he had walked past had been empty, but then again, he was only on the first floor. The upper floor seemed to be the most popular place for a quick screw. But he had walked past two or three doors where he had been greeted with a loud exclamation of some sort. Once he had actually seen two girls practically go at it. He had managed to get a glimpse of a bare stomach, a hand trailing upwards, a head tilted backwards and a head placed conveniently between two bare legs before he had run off.

Eragon was by no means a homophobe, but his sexuality made him less than inclined to watch two girls making out, let alone anything heavier. He just preferred to watch two guys.

He made it back to the so-called living room. The music remained the same; a thumping beat that was perfect for grinding up against who- or whatever was within reaching distance.

When he walked past the crowd, he was surprised to see Aksel dancing with a black haired guy. They were rather even in height, but judging by the arm the other had around Aksel's waist, Eragon had a feeling he knew who was going to top who later.

He quickly forced those images away. While it was easier to imagine Aksel go at it with some random dude, Eragon had seen him half-naked too many times to be comfortable with the images that provided. The blond was a rather attractive guy, but not Eragon's type.

The brunet walked back to his spot and leaned against the wall. He had been watching the crowd a bit, or the smaller groups around in the room. There was a table set up for strip poker in the far back. The two busty girls at the table had made a lot of guys either join, or just stare at them as they played. A little away, someone was playing spin the bottle version of truth or dare. So far, Eragon had watched a guy put his own underwear on his head and scream "fuck me, Jesus, and fuck me **hard**!" and another to offer having a threesome with two more nerdy girls. Eragon hadn't seen him since. He couldn't be sure, but he had a sneaky suspicion they had said yes, even after they had slapped him. Alcohol did strange things to people.

A little further away, someone was playing something Eragon had dubbed 'Strip-I've Never'. They still used fingers, but Eragon had seen a couple of them lose an item of clothes along the way. Not that he really cared. If he wanted to watch something, he'd rather watch the truth or dare game. At least something happened there.

Eragon recognised the next song that came on. Apparently, as long as the song either had something to do with sex or had a grinding rhythm, they played it. He found himself humming along before he knew what he was doing. He stopped the second he realised it, looking around himself to make sure no one had heard it. Eragon breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Singing was not something he did in public.

"Are you still standing here?"

Eragon blinked and looked up. Before him stood a very familiar girl. They weren't close, but Eragon knew that was doomed to change. Arya had her heart set on this one.

"You really should be out there, having fun," she continued, crocking one of her dark eyebrows. Her hand was poised at her hip.

"Like you and Arya were having earlier?" Eragon countered. "No thank you."

Even on her dark skin, Nasuada's blush was very visible. "I thought she closed the door."

"Not entirely," Eragon winced.

"Even so," Nasuada cleared her throat, "that is not the only fun you can have at one of these things, you know."

Eragon looked at her blankly. "No? Then how come fifty percent is off screwing, thirty percent is dry-humping and the other twenty are either drinking themselves to oblivion or playing some sort of drunken sex-related game?"

"Someone has been keeping track of the fun around here," another female came into view. She smirked. "Not thinking of joining are you, Eragon?"

"No," Eragon fought the urge to glare at her. "I'm not a hornball, unlike someone I know."

Arya laughed. "I can't help it if I find Nasuada positively irresistible."

Nasuada glared at her. Arya kissed her cheek. "You love it."

"Oh really?" Nasuada drawled.

Arya smirked in answer, curling an arm around her girlfriend's middle. "You know you do."

"Not to interrupt any of the flirting, but if you're going to do that, can't you run off to that room you used earlier?" Eragon said blankly.

"Why, that is a brilliant idea, Eragon," Arya's green eyes twinkled mischievously.

"No, it isn't!" Nasuada hissed. "You forgot to close the door the last time. No more for the night."

"So a couple of people may have seen a glimpse of us. As long as I'm blocking you, I don't mind," Arya said and started to nibble Nasuada's earlobe.

Eragon looked away pointedly.

"Stop it!"

Arya laughed. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Eragon?"

The brunet dared to look back. Nasuada looked even more flushed, and Eragon didn't really want to know why. He looked into Arya's eyes and waited.

"Do try to have some fun. And if a guy or two approaches you, you could strike up a little friendly conversation," she smirked at him.

"Your type of friendly conversation is not my type of friendly conversation," Eragon replied dryly.

"You're not a virgin. Stop acting like it," Arya tsk'ed.

"Yes, because the last time I had sex went so well," he snorted.

"The guy didn't know what he was doing. I'm sure there are plenty of other gay guys that **do** know that they're doing," Arya said pointedly.

Eragon felt himself blush. He shushed her.

Arya rolled her eyes. "It's not like every gay guy is going to jump you just because I let it slip that you're one of them," she drawled. "Now, I just happened to notice two rather attractive guys checking you out. I suggest you don't brush them off should one or both of them approach you."

Eragon blinked. "...You're gay. How would you know if guys are attractive?"

"I may be a lesbian, but I notice beauty when I see it," Arya winked. "And those guys are definitely something you'd find good looking."

"Where?" Nasuada asked.

"They're standing over there by the speakers," Arya said.

When Nasuada looked that way, Eragon found himself looking with her. There were indeed two guys there, separated from the crowd and the smaller groups around in the room. They were not looking their way. One had dark hair and was leaning with his back against the wall. There was a bottle in his right hand. His head was titled as he faced the other. The other had dark blond hair and slightly darker skin than his companion. He was leaning with his side to the wall with his arms crossed as they talked.

Eragon also noticed something else. Namely the arm the dark haired one had around the other's hips and the way they were looking at each other.

"They're a couple, Arya," he looked at her. "Neither of them is checking me out. You're mistaken."

Arya crocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? Maybe they just looked away when you looked over?"

Eragon snorted. "I repeat, they are a _couple_."

Arya waved him off. Nasuada looked away from them at last, her eyebrows furrowed slightly in thought.

"Babe?" Arya blinked.

"Oh, they're looking over here, alright," Nasuada said suddenly. "Just not when we're looking."

"What?" Eragon spluttered. "You're joking!"

"I'm not," Nasuada looked at him, her dark eyes filled with sincerity. "But if you check again, they'll be looking away."

"Then how do you know they're looking over here?" the brunet countered.

"Because I can see them out of the corner of my eye. They have indeed taken an interest in you, Eragon."

"Maybe they'll invite you to join them," Arya said teasingly.

Eragon blushed and spluttered. "Go and have sex in a broom closet or something!"

"Gladly," Arya laughed. "Just beware," she winked and dragged Nasuada off with her.

Eragon scowled after them. They were nuts. He discreetly looked over at the two guys. They were still talking. The dark haired one smirked at something the other said. Eragon looked away. There was no way they had been looking at him.

He slouched back against the wall and looked out at the crowd. Somewhere along the way, some dead-beat techno music had started to play. He winced. That was really not his kind of music.

**::Seen It All::**

Fifteen very slow minutes passed by. To pass the time, he had looked around in the room to try to entertain himself. He had seen a few laughable dares from the truth or dare corner. But every time he had gazed around in the room, he had made sure to not to look at the couple Arya had mentioned earlier. She and Nasuada were really out of their minds.

He looked back at the so called 'dancing' crowd and perked up when a familiar blond head popped into view. Saphira waved as she slid around the people in the crowd. Eragon gave a half-smile as she came closer.

"I'm so sorry I just left you like that," she said and ruffled a hand through her hair. "I -"

"It's ok," Eragon fiddled with the cup. "You're allowed to have some fun."

Saphira blinked. "Well, yes, but -"

"And I'm glad you've found someone you...like," he scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh God, you saw?" she covered her mouth.

"Yeah. A little."

She blushed.

"It's fine. I also saw Arya and Nasuada go at it, so I'm practically blind at this moment," he drawled.

Saphira giggled softly. "Still, that can't have been pretty."

"...Not really," he cleared his throat. "But it's fine. 'm just not...used to seeing you like that," he shrugged. His eyes widened suddenly. "That did not come out right," he spluttered.

Saphira ruffled his hair. "It's fine," she laughed. "I know what you meant."

Eragon batted the hand away. "Hey, what are you doing here, anyway? Don't tell me you're through with your...friend?"

"Oh no, but I wanted to come over and check on you," she bit her lip. "I really feel sorry for leaving you here all alone. I mean, I saw Aksel and...well..."

"Yeah," Eragon rubbed the back of his neck. "But it's cool. I think maybe I'll just leave early or something."

"...Do you even know where you are?" Saphira crocked an eyebrow.

He paused. "I'll get a cab or look for a bus or something."

Saphira rolled her eyes. "Could you please stay? I'm staying sober so that one of us can drive, and -"

"I can drive," Eragon shrugged.

"Again, you don't know where we are," she patted his shoulder. "I'll drive."

"...But then I have to stay," he sighed.

"Only for an hour or two more," she smiled. "We'll leave then, I promise."

"...All of us?" he drawled. "Good luck finding Aksel."

"We can leave without him if we have to," Saphira winked. "Just, hang in there, alright? Go and dance or something."

Eragon just looked at her. "You know I don't dance."

"Then find someone to make out with," she wiggled her eyebrows. "There are plenty of guys to choose from."

"...I need to find friends that can think with their upstairs brain."

Saphira rolled her eyes. "Just try having some fun, Eragon. You won't regret it," she ruffled his hair again and walked off.

Eragon shook his head and tried to pat it back down. He really couldn't understand his friends.

He sighed. There was only so much he could do for another hour or two. He considered stepping outside. Even though he knew there were people too, it was getting rather warm and it would give him something to do.

After a few more minutes of feeling the heat build up around him, he began to walk towards the terrace. He took a deep breath as he finally stepped outside. Eragon was pleased to notice that he had been wrong. There was no one in sight. He walked out on the wooden planks and over to the stairs. There he sat down.

He could still hear the music from inside and the occasional loud exclamation and laughter. But it was nicer outside. Much, much nicer. And more quiet. Why he hadn't gone outside before was beyond him.

He put the cup down and felt the right side of his hair. It was still a little wet, but it hadn't started to dry weirdly. Yet. Thankfully it was warm outside, or he would have started to freeze. His shirt was still moist, after all. Damn that Aksel.

Eragon frowned when he heard creaking. He looked over his shoulder and found nothing. He shook his head and looked back out at the dark garden.

"Hello."

Eragon jumped. He looked to his right and found himself staring straight into a pair of sparkling grey eyes. He leaned back slightly. He hadn't even heard the guy sit down!

"I'm Tornac," the grey eyed male said. "And that over there is Murtagh."

Eragon turned his head around. On his other side sat a dark haired male. He smirked and nodded his head. Eragon looked back at the one who had spoken. He knew these two from somewhere...

The sandy blond hair, the dark hair and the smirk...Eragon's eyes widened the image slapped him in the face. It was the guys Arya had pointed out to him! And she really hadn't been kidding when she said they had been attractive.

"And you are?" Tornac tilted his head.

Eragon blinked. They had to be involved in some kind of dare. There was no other reason for them to be talking to him. Even so, they had been polite so far...

"I'm Eragon," he replied softly.

Tornac grinned. "Eragon. It's nice to meet you. I have to apologise for my friend, though. He doesn't talk much."

"I resent that." Eragon felt a shiver run down his spine. "I just let you take care of the chit-chat," Murtagh continued. And by God, his voice was husky. It was deeper than Tornac's but not by much, even though Eragon could see that Tornac had to be the older one out of the two. They were also both obviously taller than him.

"Anyway," Tornac rolled his eyes. "We thought you looked lonely and decided to drop by."

"Your friends seemed to be in a hurry to leave whenever they came over," Murtagh drawled.

Eragon blinked again. How long had they been keeping an eye on him? And just where did that fit into whatever dare they were a part of?

"Um, yeah. I mean, when they have a chance to get laid, they tend to leave me behind."

Both of them let out a laugh. Tornac's was louder and merrier while Murtagh's was a soft chuckle.

"And let me guess...you can't blame them?" Tornac smirked.

"No," Eragon snorted. "As we all know, good friends always blow each other off when there's a possibility of getting laid."

"Aren't you a funny one?" Tornac grinned.

Eragon just shrugged. He was a little weirded out, though. Why hadn't they done whatever the dare was about and gotten on with their lives? ...Unless the dare involved inviting him to a threesome -it seemed to be the dare of the evening, for some reason-because if it was, then he was out of there.

"Seriously, though...why are you talking to me?" Eragon asked a little awkwardly.

"I told you. We thought you looked lonely and wanted to offer you some company."

Eragon crocked an eyebrow. "Whatever the dare is, get it over with, would you? You don't have to lie."

Tornac and Murtagh shared a look. "We're not here on a dare," Murtagh replied.

"Yeah, right," the brunet snorted.

"We're not," Tornac repeated. "We're here to give you some company. And to ask you to join us..."

**::Seen It All::**

If he hadn't stopped himself, Eragon was sure he would have spluttered or shrieked 'what?' very loudly. Instead, he settled for looking flabbergasted and a little disturbed. If he were to believe Saphira, he had mastered that look quite nicely.

"Dancing," Tornac added with a half-smirk. "Why, what did you think we meant?"

Eragon just let out a half-strangled sound. Beside him, Murtagh let out a husky laugh. "You'll have to excuse Tornac," Murtagh said then. "He likes to catch people off guard."

"You love me anyway, babe," Tornac smirked.

Murtagh flipped him off.

If Eragon had doubted that they were dating, seeing them interact would have killed that doubt. It was so clear. It also made him very uncertain of why they wanted him to join them. Dancing! Join them on the dance floor. God, even making that slip in his head was making him blush.

"Um, I'm not much of a dancer, to answer your question. So, thanks but no thanks."

Murtagh and Tornac shared another look. "Murtagh will take care of that," Tornac said simply. "It was he who taught me to move. It's not that hard."

"No, that's why it took me ages to teach you," the other drawled.

"I'm sorry, but you were very distracting," the blond replied dryly.

"I could wear rags, and you'd still find me distracting," Murtagh rolled his eyes and stood up. "But you are coming with us," he said to Eragon.

"Yup," Tornac stood up as well. Eragon had to tilt his head back to see them properly. "You've been here for, how long? Almost three hours? And all you've done is to stand there. You're coming with us."

"...You know how long I've been here?" Eragon spluttered.

"Sure," Tornac grinned. He grabbed Eragon's arm and forced him to stand up. "You came with three of your friends. Murtagh noticed your arrival, because it only took Thorn, a friend of ours, ten seconds to start drooling upon seeing one of your friends."

"Thorn?" Eragon frowned.

"Yeah," Murtagh shrugged. "Redhead. He hooked up with your blonde female friend."

"Ah." Eragon knew who they were talking about now. Huh. Small world. "Anyhow, I'm not dancing. Sorry."

"Come on. It'll be fun," Tornac promised.

"We won't take no for an answer," Murtagh added.

"..." Eragon licked his lips. "Alright, but only for a little while."

"Sure, sure," Tornac linked their arms and started to drag him back into the house. Murtagh followed them. Eragon wasn't sure what he was getting himself into. He really, _really_ didn't dance. And if his friends found out...he'd never live it down.

As they entered the house, the music had once again been switched to a thumping, sensual song. It was hard not to move along.

It was true that Eragon didn't dance, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to. He could move to the music...if he wanted to. He just rarely wanted to. He was sure that he sucked, and he'd rather not scar anyone with having to see his attempts at dancing.

The brunet was tempted to back away or run when Tornac led him towards the other dancing couples. How was he supposed to dance with them anyway? Tornac had said something about Murtagh teaching him, but where did that leave Tornac?

Tornac came to a stop and practically threw him into Murtagh's arms. "I'll be around," he said, winked and disappeared.

Eragon blinked. He was suddenly aware of where he was and who he was pressed against. He quickly stepped back and tried to keep the blush at bay.

For a second, they both just stood there. Finally Murtagh rolled his eyes and waved him closer. "You want to learn, right?"

"Not really. I'm fine," Eragon suddenly found watching the others very interesting.

"Tch." He blinked at the foreign sound and looked back. And suddenly found Murtagh standing right before him. "We're doing this. Come on." And before he could back up, Murtagh had grabbed onto his hips and pulled him closer.

"Um -"

"Don't think," Murtagh interrupted him. "Just feel the music and let it move you."

Eragon was tempted to glare at him. Did he look like a moron? So when he felt Murtagh start to shift and move to the music, he started to move with him.

"...If that's what you told Tornac, then how come he had trouble?" Eragon asked offhandedly.

"He was too busy groping my ass," the other replied dryly. "He was telling the truth about that."

"So you are..." Eragon made a motion with his hands. Murtagh crocked an eyebrow. "...Together?"

"Focus on the dancing," was all he replied. "You're doing great so far, but you need to pay more attention to your partner and the music than your thoughts."

Eragon focused his eyes on Murtagh's chest. He'd rather not look him in the eyes. He felt awkward as he stood there, swaying to some bad trance tune. Apparently Murtagh thought so too. "You need to do something with your hands. You look ridiculous with them just hanging there."

This time, Eragon did glare at him. Murtagh answered with a soft smirk. "Unless you want me to come closer, they're remaining there," Eragon countered.

"Who said I didn't want you to?" Murtagh proved his point by pulling Eragon closer. "So look alive."

Eragon answered by draping an arm loosely around Murtagh's neck. His gaze remained firmly on the other's chest, however. It didn't matter that he knew that Murtagh was taken; being so close to someone attractive was having its effects.

"To answer your earlier question, yes, we are." Eragon frowned in confusion. "Tornac and I. We're together," Murtagh clarified.

"Oh. Then how come he isn't dancing with you?"

"Because I'm not an exhibitionist and he can't keep his hands to himself," Murtagh drawled.

He blinked. "So you never dance together?"

Hazel. Murtagh's eyes were hazel, and currently twinkling like mad. "I didn't say 'never'."

Eragon blushed. He could only imagine what that would look like. He tried to force the images away, but they flashed in his mind anyway. Tornac's hands buried in Murtagh's back pockets, their groins practically melted together, Tornac's lips on Murtagh's neck...

He shook his head fiercely. Go away, images! He did not need those right now.

"Are you alright?"

Eragon made the mistake of looking up. Murtagh's face was just a few centimetres away from his own. Murtagh's breath ghosted over his lips as he spoke.

"Yeah," Eragon cleared his throat, "I'm fine."

Murtagh did not look convinced. Eragon stumbled when Murtagh pulled him even closer. "If you're uncomfortable, we can stop."

Somehow, Eragon didn't think he was just referring to the dancing, which was strange, because it wasn't like he had signed up for doing anything else.

"I'm fine," he said finally. "Seriously." And to prove this, he threw his other arm around Murtagh's neck.

The other smirked down at him. "Anytime you want to back out is fine."

"We're just dancing. If you start to grope me, I'll just sic your boyfriend on you," Eragon said jokingly.

Murtagh chuckled. Before Eragon could ask what was so funny, he felt a different set of hands grip his waist. Murtagh's hands slid around his back and into his back-pockets. Eragon blushed. With a hard body behind and in front of him, he suddenly realised how close he was to them both.

"Who are you siccing who on?" Tornac purred into his ear.

"Um, you on Murtagh, if he started to grope me," Eragon repeated a little breathlessly.

"Well, he's groping you now, isn't he?" Eragon could practically picture the smirk. "And I see nothing wrong in that. Murtagh knows who he belongs to."

"That goes both ways, jackass," Murtagh countered.

"Oh, you melt me with your words," Tornac laughed. The laugh fanned over Eragon's ear, making him shiver. As if the soft hardness in front and behind him wasn't enough, now they were going to grope him? If he had known that earlier, Eragon wasn't so sure that he would have said yes.

"What's going on?" Eragon asked, instantly hating the soft breathless hint in his voice.

"Oh, nothing," Tornac hummed. Eragon gasped when he felt Tornac lick the outer rim of his ear. Murtagh's hands grasped him tighter and pulled him even closer still. Tornac followed almost automatically. "Except that we're asking you if you're willing to join us for some fun."

"This is the dare, isn't it?"

"No dare," Murtagh replied huskily. "Just plain old lust."

"What do you say, Eragon?" Tornac murmured. "We'll take good care of you."

"You can back out anytime you want," Murtagh nipped at Eragon's bottom lip. "No pressure."

Eragon knew what he was supposed to say, knew what was smart of him to choose. And yet, as Tornac moved down to lick his pulse; a very different word tumbled off his tongue.

"Ok."

**::Seen It All::**

Eragon wasn't sure how he ended up there, or even where here was. He was pretty sure they were still inside the house, but if they were on the upper or lower floor was beyond him. All he could remember was Murtagh's lips on his neck and Tornac's hands leading him forward before he was lead across a threshold and practically thrown onto a rather large bed. Then Murtagh's lips were on his and Tornac's hands were working on his jeans.

How they made it work went right over Eragon's head. Murtagh's tongue was doing sinful things to his mouth, and that was all he could really focus on. The tongue was stroking his, mapping out his mouth and swiping across his bottom lip before starting over again. It was difficult enough for him to remember to breathe, let alone to notice what Tornac was doing.

That was, until a hand sneaked into his underwear and started to stroke him. Eragon moaned into Murtagh's mouth. Murtagh pulled back and started to work his way down Eragon's neck. He found his pulse and sucked. Eragon moaned and arched up into both touches.

Someone pushed his jeans and underwear further down and pulled them off. The logical half of his brain told him that it had to be Murtagh, but his other half told the logic where to stick it. The same hands slid up his body and started to pull of his t-shirt. It made a wet sound as it left his shoulders and was thrown from his body.

When Tornac's hand sped up, Eragon reached out and grabbed the first thing he could find. His heart was beating loudly in his chest and his cheeks were steadily getting hotter. Murtagh's mouth had left his neck and Eragon let out a loud cry when Tornac tightened his grip at the same time as Murtagh licked one of his nipples.

His arousal was throbbing hard. Eragon's hands tightened around Murtagh's shoulders, being what he had grabbed onto, raising the material of Murtagh's shirt as he did so. Eragon suddenly became aware of the fact that he was the only one that lost a single item of clothing. He grabbed onto the shirt and pulled. Murtagh pulled away, which caused Eragon to let out a displeased cry, but when he could feel bare skin under his hands and the mouth returned, that was all forgotten.

Suddenly everything stopped. Eragon opened his eyes -he hadn't even noticed that he had closed them- and lifted his head. Two sets of eyes stared back at him. Murtagh licked his lips and shared a quick look with Tornac. The latter nodded. Eragon suddenly found himself being pushed into a seated position with Murtagh behind him. Murtagh's hands ghosted down his sides as Tornac slid his legs more open.

Eragon blushed. He felt very exposed, even more so than he had done lying down. Tornac's hands ghosted up his thighs as the man leaned down and breathed hotly on Eragon's erection. Eragon moaned softly. Murtagh's hands stilled and gripped his hips at the same time as Tornac's tongue started to lap at the sensitive flesh.

Hot, it was so hot. Eragon choked and felt his eyes clench shut. Murtagh's mouth was once again on his neck as Tornac started to bob his head.

With Murtagh hitting every spot on his neck and Tornac working his magic on his member, it wasn't long until it started to tighten in his stomach. Tornac's hands suddenly moved, sliding up his chest and starting to toy with his nipples. Eragon didn't have time to warn any of them before he let out a loud cry and came.

His head fell back against Murtagh's shoulder. Murtagh's mouth left his neck and moved up to his ear. At the same time, he felt Tornac sit up and tower over him. "Are you still with us?" Murtagh asked teasingly.

It took a while for him to process the words. "Aah, yeah," Eragon panted. His brain wasn't cooperating properly just yet, the stupid thing.

"I bet you weren't ready for that," Tornac chuckled.

Eragon forced his eyes to open. He tried to sit up, but only fell back against Murtagh's body. He shivered when he felt Murtagh chuckle.

"Think you can handle more?" Tornac murmured softly.

There was more? Eragon tried to imagine that, but couldn't. It was hard enough to remember everyone's names, including his own.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," was whispered against his neck.

But he wanted to. He could feel Murtagh's erection against his lower back and could see the outline of Tornac's straining against his jeans. And even though he knew he could walk away without them missing him that much, Eragon didn't want to leave. _In for a nickel, in for a dime_.

He finally regained his breath and managed to sit up. "I want to," he said. "But how -"

"Don't worry about the how," Tornac winked. "We have that part covered. You just let us know if you have anything against being on the bottom."

For those two? "No."

"Excellent," Tornac smiled widely. "Now, which of us do you prefer?"

What? "I have a say in this?"

"Of course you do," Murtagh replied. Eragon felt him shift and move away from him. Eragon braced himself as the other man came into view.

Eragon blushed. He could choose? But what if –

"No one is going to feel snubbed that you didn't pick him," Murtagh said then, interrupting his inner triad. Eragon felt his blush darken. Was he that easy to see through?

"Nope," Tornac agreed. "You get to choose which hotstuff you want in ya."

Eragon stared at him. "You'll have to excuse Tornac's language," Murtagh shook his head. "Only he would call himself 'hotstuff'."

"That's not true," Tornac said. Murtagh just stared at him. "Alright, fine. Maybe it is a little."

Murtagh rolled his eyes.

Even though Eragon had wondered about the use of 'hotstuff', it hadn't been why he had stared. The blush was burning hotly on his face. Was he really doing this? It really seemed like he was, and he couldn't believe it. A blow job was one thing, but to go all the way with two guys?

He jolted at the feeling of an arm sliding around his shoulders. "Having second thoughts?" Murtagh whispered into his ear.

Eragon shivered. He shook his head.

"You are of course allowed to," Tornac repeated.

"I'm not. It's stupid, I know, but I'm not," Eragon said and licked his lips. "You should try everything at least once, right?" That was not one of his favourite philosophies in the world, but it made sense.

"That's right," Tornac hummed. "So, who do you want to try first?"

Eragon forced down the splutter that had been making its way up his throat.

Murtagh pushed Tornac, making the blond laugh. "Quit scaring the kid."

That was right! Wait, what? "I'm not a kid!" Eragon spluttered. Oh great, he hadn't gotten rid of that voice yet.

"No offense meant," Murtagh gave a half-smirk. "In fact, I'm quite sure you're older than Tornac mentally."

"Offense taken," Tornac shoved Murtagh back. The other just smirked wider. "Since you're in such a good mood, you can go first."

What, they were taking turns now? He saw Murtagh roll his eyes and mouth something to Tornac. The other mouthed something back, and Murtagh's smirk seemed to widen even more. Eragon gulped softly. Dear God, just _what _had he gotten himself into?

**::Seen It All::**

Eragon woke up after what felt like only minutes. He was confused at first, not recognizing his surroundings at all. He sat up and blinked. He was in some sort of room that smelt heavily of sex. He wrinkled his nose. How he gotten there?

He looked down at himself and noticed two things. One, he was naked and two, there was an arm around his middle. Eragon stifled what would without a doubt have been a loud shout and forced himself to check whose arm it was instead.

As he saw the two other men, everything came rushing back. He blushed furiously. He couldn't believe it. Had he really done what he thought he had done?

Judging by the pain in his ass and the still lingering fatigue, he had.

It took Eragon a minute to wiggle out of Murtagh's grasp. Then he slowly began to dress himself. He sat up gingerly and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. Oh yeah, it probably looked like a bloody mess. That was not the biggest issue at hand, though. Getting away was.

Eragon made sure he hadn't forgotten or dropped anything before quietly tip-to'ing over to the door. He grabbed the handle and turned it. Something held him back though. The brunet bit his lip and looked back onto the bed.

They lay just as he had left them. Tornac was still spooned against Murtagh's side; his right leg curled around Murtagh's left. Tornac's right arm still lay across Murtagh's stomach possessively. Murtagh's left arm was around Tornac's body, his hand resting on the small of Tornac's back. The right arm that had previously been around Eragon's middle now simply lay beside him. They were both firmly asleep.

Eragon shook his head and sneaked out of the room, closing the door as softly as he could. He sighed and began to walk down the hall.

He could still hear the party going on downstairs. Eragon groaned when he realised he needed to walk down the stairs. That was going to be _fun_.

Five minutes later he finally found himself on the ground floor. Eragon cursed whoever had invented stairs and tried not to limp too much as he walked back into the common room. The music that greeted him seemed unusually loud. He flinched and just barely managed to force himself not to cover his ears.

The party was very much still going on, Eragon noticed. It looked like he had never left. He shook his head and began to make his way towards the door. If anyone was looking for him that would be the first place they would look.

Eragon winced when he noticed that all his friends were there waiting for him. That really couldn't be good. They would ask questions, and if he had any hickeys, the teasing would be never ending. He schooled his features and walked over to them.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Saphira scolded, looking him up and down as if to check for any damage.

"Just around," Eragon shrugged. "I spent most of the time outside after you left."

"We checked outside. You weren't there," Aksel drawled.

"I was." Eragon hated to lie, but now it was vital. There was no way he was telling his friends what he had just done. At least, not right away. "I took a walk around outside. You must have missed me."

None of them really looked convinced, but they let it go. Eragon released a relieved breath and followed Saphira out and over to the car.

Technically it was Arya's car, but it was clear that she had been drinking, so it was Saphira that unlocked the car and slid into the driver's seat. Aksel slipped into the back with Nasuada and Arya. Eragon took the passenger seat. They all buckled in and Saphira backed out and onto the road.

The ride was filled with silence. Eragon was tempted to squirm, but he was too busy trying not to sit on his ass to do anything else. He tried not to think of how he must have looked.

A long ten minutes later Saphira pulled over and Nasuada helped Arya out. Arya had an arm slung around Nasuada's shoulders. Eragon looked away when Arya started to nip at her girlfriend's throat.

Saphira let out a quiet giggle. "I'll make sure Aksel takes the car back tomorrow."

"Thanks," Nasuada said softly. "Good night everyone."

They exchanged a few quick goodbyes before Saphira was once again on the road.

"So, Aksel, who was that guy I saw you with?" Saphira spoke up. Eragon perked up a little. He remembered seeing Aksel with someone earlier, before Murtagh and Tornac had attacked. He forced down the blush that threatened to rise.

"Oh, just some guy," Aksel said smugly. Eragon looked into the side-view mirror and saw the smug smirk on Aksel's lips.

"You mean you banged someone and didn't get their name?" Saphira crocked an eyebrow and glanced at the other blond through the rear-view mirror.

"Alright, so maybe I got his name, but I didn't bang him." Eragon blinked when Aksel got a slightly far-off look.

Saphira let out a low whistle. "Does someone have a crush?" she asked teasingly.

"Says you," Aksel laughed. "I saw you and red go at it."

That sentence seemed familiar somehow, but Eragon couldn't remember where he might have heard it.

Saphira blushed. "For your information, his name was Thorn. We have a date this weekend."

And just like that, it hit him. Thorn was friends with Tornac and Murtagh! Eragon felt his eyes widen. Not good. Not good at all!

He forced himself to relax so his friends wouldn't suspect anything and continued to listen.

"Oooh, that's a fancy name," Aksel said enthusiastically. "He sounds like a fabulous kisser."

Saphira rolled her eyes. "Not that it's any of your business, but he was."

"Yeah, so was my guy," Aksel grinned and leaned back in his seat. "What about _your_ guy, Eragon?"

Eragon blinked. "What guy?"

"The guy you obviously hooked up with," Saphira said and glanced at him briefly. "We can see the hickeys on your neck, you know."

Eragon let out a mute curse. Busted.

"Oh, he was nobody," Eragon squirmed and nearly let out a curse. Alright, note to self; no squirming. It **hurts**.

"Nobody?" Aksel sniggered. "You made out with a guy from a video game?"

"Oh, come off it," Eragon snorted. "He was an actual guy. I just didn't catch his name."

Aksel wolf-whistled. "He must have been some guy to get you to snog him without getting a name in return."

Oh, he had been some guy, alright. Only that there had been two guys, not one. Eragon bit his lip and looked out of the window. "It was nothing, alright. We just kissed a bit," he shrugged.

"Mhm, sure," Aksel smirked at him.

Eragon flipped him off over his shoulder.

Saphira parked the car five minutes later. They all got out and she locked it. Aksel held out his hand, but Saphira shook her head. "You can come by tomorrow and pick them up. God knows where they'll end up if I leave them with you," she said dryly and pocketed the keys.

Aksel rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. They all knew how often he lost his own keys inside his apartment. It didn't help that it always looked like a bloody mess in there either.

Saphira and Eragon parted with Aksel on the first floor. They walked up the stairs and down the hall. Saphira stopped outside her door. Eragon stopped beside her. His thighs and back was screaming at him for walking so many stairs, and all he really wanted was to collapse onto his own bed and sleep for a week, but he knew he couldn't leave Saphira without saying good night.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Saphira fiddled with her keys.

"Yeah," Eragon blinked. "Of course I do."

"Will you?" she crocked an eyebrow.

That was a very good question. Eragon licked his lips. "...Maybe. I'll let you know."

"Whatever happened while you were gone...we won't think any less of you if you tell us," Saphira patted his shoulder. "Just know that."

Eragon nodded. "Good night, Saph."

She sighed softly. "Good night," she gave him a soft smile before unlocking her door and slipping inside.

Eragon winced. He forced himself to walk until he reached his door and unlocked it. The distance between his and Saphira's room had never seemed so long before. He stumbled inside and barely remembered to lock it behind him. He stumbled over to the bed and collapsed onto it. He was asleep within seconds.

* * *

**A/N** So, how horrible was it? Hehe.

Now, before you go on about "how many club/dancing fics are you going to write?" let me say something. This isn't actually a club/dance fic, nor is it going to be. But I needed a new setting for the story, so I went with a college party. Stuff can get pretty wild there, if I am to believe certain rumours. And wild fit perfectly for this.

As for how this story came to be...I was bored, I was horny and I wanted to write. And it was with some outside help (they know who they are) that I was made aware of Murtagh/Tornac and Tornac/Murtagh. This spiked my interest. I had looked at it before and scoffed, but now...now I was intrigued. And so when I was nudged into the direction of Tornac/Murtagh/Eragon, I found what I was looking for. This I could work with. This I could write.

And so here you see the finished work of a bored mind. I finished this chapter in, like, four days. Tops. And I like it as strange as that is. I'm a firm Murtagh/Eragon shipper, but...this worked. As a sort of crack-ish pairing.

Anyhow, that is all I have to say for now. I'd like to thank the people that actually sat down and bothered to read this monstrosity of a chapter. It couldn't have been easy. :sheepish: So, thank you. :bows:


	2. Something Smells Fishy

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Eragon or anything associated with the Inheritance Cycle.

**Claimer: **I, SussieKitten, own this plot and the story. Borrow or steal my plot, my original characters (Aksel) or story and I will report you. I also own my version of Saphira/Thorn's human appearances.

**Warnings:** Slash/Shōnen-ai – meaning mild guy x guy action. Femslash/Shōjo-ai – meaning mild girl x girl action. Swearing or strong language.

**A/N** A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed and to those that still reads this story.

I'm sorry it has been a while since I updated, but no one can plan to get busy like me and my beta have been. But here it finally is; chapter two of _Now I've Seen It All_.

A huge thanks to my beta **Illyric**. Without you, writing this story wouldn't have been nearly as fun. And that, my friend, is why this chapter is dedicated to you. Because without you, this story would have ended with Eragon thinking "oh, I'm so screwed". Because dear **Illyric** informed me, my dear readers, that such an ending would have been most unsatisfactory. And that is how chapter two (and later three, four and five) was born.

But enough about that. Dig in, guys!

* * *

**NOW I'VE SEEN IT ALL**

**Part Two; **_**Something Smells Fishy**_

The rest of the week passed quickly. There was no further talk of the party before the weekend was suddenly upon them and Saphira was getting ready for her date with Thorn.

"So, is his ass as pretty as his face?" Aksel asked as he sat on Saphira's bed. He was bouncing up and down slightly, a smirk obvious on his lips.

Eragon rolled his eyes. He sat in Saphira's computer chair as they waited for Saphira to finish changing in her bathroom.

"Why were you ogling his ass?" Saphira asked.

"I just saw that he was with you and where your hands were," Aksel sniggered. "I couldn't help but to stop to admire the view for a short while."

Eragon snorted. The door to the bathroom was unlocked and Saphira stepped outside. "A short while," she drawled as she fixed her forelock to match the rest of her messily styled hair. "Sure."

Aksel shrugged.

Saphira rolled her eyes. She found a pair of shoes and put them onto the doormat for later. Then she walked over to sit beside Aksel. "For your information, though...his face is much prettier."

The blond male laughed loudly.

"So, you really like this guy?" Eragon asked. He sat backwards on the chair, his arms resting on the backrest. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his arms.

Saphira put a piece of hair behind her ear. "Mhm. I mean, we didn't just kiss. We talked too," she smiled. "We have a lot in common."

"That's great," Eragon smiled back.

"I can ask if he has any single friends for you, if you're interested," Saphira winked.

Eragon spluttered. "Why are you just asking me?"

"Because I know Aksel is keeping in touch with _his _mystery man from the party. You aren't," Saphira said simply.

"Yeah. Whoever was that?" Aksel asked eagerly.

"Who was your guy?" Eragon countered.

"Vanir. He was about my height. He was a little bit of a bastard, but amusing in his own way. And he made me scream," Aksel grinned.

Eragon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Too much information, Aksel."

Saphira giggled.

"So, who was he?" Aksel asked again.

Eragon tilted his head. "Just some guy." Lie, and lie well, damnit! "He was about this high," he raised his hand to show some random height, "dark-ish hair, alright kisser. Very grabby, though," he shrugged. That was an alright description. Vague, but not too vague. Fit the fact that he hadn't 'gotten his name'. At least, he hoped it did.

"Grabby?" Saphira perked up. "Details, Eragon."

Details? Oh fuck. "He just wouldn't leave my ass alone. I left him pretty quickly when he wouldn't take no for an answer."

Aksel pouted. "You could at least have gotten his name. You know, so you could tell the rest of us."

Eragon just stared at him blankly.

Saphira sighed. She checked her wrist-watch absentmindedly and shot up. "Oh shit, I'm late," she grabbed her purse, a jacket and toed on her shoes. "Bye guys! Lock up after me, or else," she threw a stern look at them before hurrying out.

A silence lingered after her. Aksel stood and stretched. "I think I'm gonna head too."

"Don't tell me you have a date as well," Eragon smirked.

Aksel slid his hands into his pockets and grinned. "I do. Laters, kiddo. I'm gonna go get laid," he waved at him before walking out of the room practically skipping.

Eragon shook his head. He stood up, grabbed Saphira's spare key walked out. He locked the door behind him and walked into his own apartment. He kicked off his shoes and turned his laptop on. He caressed the keys slightly. "I guess it's just you and me, buddy," he said and sat down. "Friends really do leave you behind when there's a possibility for sex."

Eragon pointedly ignored the warmth in his cheeks as he logged on and tried to find something to keep him occupied.

**::Seen It All::**

Eragon woke the next morning with a very distinct wetness in his pants. He groaned and cursed himself for having yet another wet dream. Ever since the party, he couldn't sleep without reliving _certain parts_ in his dreams.

He cursed loudly as he got ready for a new day. He reminded himself to check in on Saphira later. If the date had gone well, she might check in on him first, though.

He had only just zipped up his jeans when someone unlocked his door and walked inside. "Good morning!"

Eragon stared at her. Saphira was far too happy. "Are you on drugs?" he asked as he put on a random t-shirt.

Saphira laughed. "No, but I had the best time last night," she smiled. "Thorn is adorable!"

He wanted to laugh, but managed not to. It was a severe blow to a guy's ego to be called adorable. But hey, if Saphira was happy, he wasn't going to judge.

"So he's a nice guy?"

"Oh yes," Saphira sat down on his bed, still smiling widely. "Despite what happened at the party, he's a real gentleman. I thought they were an extinct species," she sighed dreamily.

"Be careful, or you might fall in love with him already," Eragon said teasingly.

Saphira rolled her eyes. "I'm not that blonde, but I really like him. We're seeing each other again next week. Hey, why don't you come along?"

The brunet blinked. "What? You want me to crash your date?"

"No," she tsk'ed. "We're just getting together to do something fun. He both agreed that our friends should meet."

"Are you that serious already?" he smirked.

Saphira blushed and swatted at him. "No, you goof. But we talked, and apparently you all have a few similar interests. We thought it would be fun if we all got together to get to know each other."

That was a very, very bad idea. Especially if Thorn was bringing two very certain friends.

"Who are you inviting?" Eragon tilted his head, trying his best to act nonchalant.

"You, Aksel and the girls. We aren't going to do it next week already, but maybe the one after that," Saphira crossed her right leg over her left. "He said he'd bring a few once we settled on a day. He didn't know who could make it, but he was thinking about bringing one or two of his single gay friends," she wiggled her eyebrows.

Eragon let out a mental sigh of relief. That wasn't Murtagh or Tornac, at least. "I told you, you don't have to play matchmaker for me," he scowled.

"I know, I know," Saphira smiled softly. "Which reminds me...are you every going to tell me what happened at the party?"

Eragon paused. He walked over to the bed and sat down. He fiddled with his hands. He supposed he could tell her. He was dying to tell someone. After all, he didn't have to name any names...

"You have to promise me that what I say next will not leave this room," he bit his lip and looked at her.

Saphira nodded. "I promise."

He sighed. He looked away from her and over at the wall. There was a dragon poster just in front of him. His eyes followed the dragon's body as he thought about how to word what he was about to say.

"I lied." Saphira snorted. He ducked his head. Alright, so she had known that. "I may or may not have gone further than what I told you and Aksel."

"You slept with the guy?" she asked softly.

Eragon ducked his head even further. "Um, yeah, sort of."

"I could tell, Eragon. You were limping," she let out a soft giggle. "But you obviously weren't ready to say anything, so I didn't bring it up."

He turned to look at her. He lifted his legs from the floor and crossed them under himself. "Thanks for giving me time," he sent her a strained smile. His hands slid down his legs and to his knees, where they stopped, curling into tight fists. "I..." he bit his lip. "I didn't just do it once."

Saphira's eyes widened.

"I sort of did it three times..." his eyes shifted to look at the other wall, "with two guys...together."

Saphira was quiet for a long time. Eragon could feel himself start to sweat. He ducked his head and looked at her through his forelock.

Her mouth was hanging open. As he looked at her, she blinked and shook her head, visibly getting herself together. "You mean you...had a threesome?"

Eragon blushed. He nodded in answer.

"Wow," Saphira breathed. "No wonder you didn't want to say anything to everyone. Especially Aksel! But seriously, a threesome?"

Eragon crossed his arms awkwardly. He nodded again. "They were really good looking, and really, really persuasive."

A startled giggle left her. Eragon blinked at her. "I can't believe this. My best friend has actually had a threesome. You are so lucky!"

Lucky? Wait, what? "How does that make me lucky?"

"You got to be in-between two hot guys? Damn, I wish I was so lucky," she shook her head.

"I wasn't in-between them," Eragon found himself saying before he could stop himself.

Saphira clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Eragon tried to glare at her, but couldn't. He ducked his head and muttered soft curses under his breath.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. So you got a little wild. I'm not going to think any less of you. Hell, I'm jealous!" Eragon looked up. Saphira winked at him. "You should treasure the experience."

He just shrugged. Maybe he could someday...once the dreams stopped haunting him.

"But, you really don't..." he trailed off.

"I really don't," she took one of his hands in hers and squeezed. "You're my best friend. I don't care what you do, as long as you don't do drugs or kill someone. Otherwise, I don't care."

Eragon smiled at her. "Thank you."

She winked at him. "No problem."

He squeezed her hand back. She let go and Eragon let his hands rest on his knees again, feeling much more relaxed now. He let out a soft sigh and looked up at the ceiling.

It felt really good to get it off his chest. Which was strange, because it wasn't like he was ashamed of having done it. But oh well.

"But say..." Eragon frowned and looked at her. "How does that work? A threesome between three guys?" Saphira asked with a very visible mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"SAPHIRA!"

Saphira just laughed.

**::Seen It All::**

He cursed her to hell and back. He hadn't wanted to come, but damnit, when she wanted to be, Saphira was too damn persuasive.

Eragon grumbled under his breath. In the end, Aksel, Arya and Nasuada had all agreed to come. Aksel almost hadn't showed up, when Saphira had told him he could bring his currently boyfriend -whom Eragon suspected was there to stay- along, he had eagerly jumped into it. So there they all were.

They had agreed to meet at a local mall. Thorn and his friends were running late, so Nasuada and Arya had gone inside to get something to drink. Vanir had wandered inside with just a quick word to Aksel. Aksel had just nodded.

Aksel had been right when he had described Vanir to them. He was a bit bastardly and had a very sarcastic, but alright sense of humour. He always seemed to have his dark hair back in a low ponytail, and his eyes were such startling shade of blue that they reminded Eragon of a vampire's. But as long as Aksel was happy, Eragon didn't care.

"Oh, where are they?" Saphira crossed her arms.

"They're just a little late," Aksel said and continued to chew on the straw that once had used to have a lollypop attached to it. Aksel liked to continue to chew on the straw even long after the lollypop was gone. Why he did that was beyond Eragon's understanding.

"They're a half hour late," Saphira pouted.

Aksel grinned and threw an arm around her shoulders. "You really like this guy, huh?"

Saphira just rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

Eragon shifted slightly. Thorn hadn't said who he was bringing, so he was nervous. What if he did bring Murtagh and Tornac? What if they remembered him? Would they say something? Fuck, what if they already had? He gulped.

"Oh, there they are!" Saphira perked up.

Eragon looked in the direction she was facing. In the crowd, he could only see the guy he assumed was Thorn, if his shocking red hair and tall, broad frame was anything to go by. He saw the guy's face light up. He slid through the crowd and up to Saphira, whom he picked up and twirled around. By then, Eragon was sure he was Thorn. And Saphira hadn't been kidding when she had said that he was tall.

"Thorn, these are my friends," Saphira said as Thorn placed her back down on her feet. "There are three more of us, but they're inside getting stuff."

"Cool," Thorn smiled. "Hello," he nodded to them.

"That is Aksel," Saphira said and pointed. Aksel grinned. "And that is Eragon," she pointed to him.

Eragon waited for Thorn's face to light up in recognition, but nothing happened. Thorn just nodded to him. Eragon nodded back.

"And who did you bring?" Saphira crocked an eyebrow.

"I brought people," Thorn gave a half-smirk. "Two of us couldn't make it because of work, but you get to meet the lovebirds."

Lovebirds? Why did that word make him shiver? Eragon shook his head. Thorn probably knew more people that were together. It didn't have to be Tornac and Murtagh.

"Guys, this is Murtagh and Tornac."

But it was. Eragon stiffened. He saw Thorn speak, but couldn't hear a word he was saying. His eyes were planted on the two guys that now stood beside Thorn. He vaguely heard his name being mentioned and snapped back to earth. _Oh fuck_. He was screwed.

"Hello Aksel, _Eragon_," Tornac purred. "It's lovely to meet you both."

"Truly," Murtagh smirked.

Eragon gulped when he noticed that they were both looking at him, both with the same predatory glimmer in their eyes.

Oh yes, Eragon was so screwed.

**::Seen It All::**

They agreed to see a movie later. Which one it was, Eragon didn't know, and he hadn't really voiced his opinion when everyone had discussed it. Oh no, he had been very busy ignoring Murtagh and Tornac at that time. He didn't care if they ended up seeing a damn chick-flick; he was going to pretend he had never met Tornac and Murtagh and didn't really care about them.

Currently, they were sitting by the fountain in the park. The mall was right across the road, and the cinema they planned to go to was right beside it. They had agreed to wait there until the movie started.

Until then, it was apparently 'getting to know each other' time. And yes, that included telling a little about yourself. Eragon hated it. When his turn had come, he had tried not to pointedly ignore looking at the two people on Thorn's right as he told them about his hobbies and what he was studying. When he sat back down, he continued to ignore them.

Once the question time was over, thankfully without any embarrassing questions being thrown his way, Eragon figured it was time he talked to Saphira. Fast.

"Saph, can I talk to you for a second?"

Saphira looked at him. Her face clouded over with worry. Eragon gave a mental curse. He must have looked as distressed as he felt. He really needed to work better on masking his emotions.

"Sure," she stood. Thorn looked at them before turning back to his conversation with Vanir. Eragon heard him laugh as he pulled Saphira away from the group.

"Eragon, what's wrong?" she asked when they finally stopped.

He looked back at the group suspiciously. No one was looking at them. He opened his mouth and paused. What was he supposed to say? 'You know Murtagh and Tornac? Yeah, those were the guys I slept with. So, what's new with you?'

Eragon winced. He needed to find a gentler approach than that.

"Eragon?"

"Uh, right," he shook his head. "Um..."

Saphira leaned up and felt his forehead. "You don't feel sick."

"I'm not sick," he gently pushed her hand away. "It's just...um...you see those two guys beside Thorn?"

Saphira looked back. "Tornac and Murtagh? What about them?"

"I, uh..." he felt himself blush. There was no gentle way to put this. "The two guys; it was them."

At first she didn't get it. Then her frown melted away and shock took its place. She looked back at their large group. "The threesome you had was with them?" she whispered.

Eragon let out an awkward cough. He nodded in answer.

Saphira let out a quiet giggle. "What a coincidence."

"Saphira!" he hissed. "All I wanted was to..." his voice trailed off.

Saphira frowned. "Forget about it? I thought you said you weren't -"

"I'm not ashamed," he interrupted and tried to fight down his blush. "But it's one thing to have done it and another to see them again. I never thought I was going to...until I remembered that they were Thorn's friends."

Her eyes widened. "You knew?"

"It came up," he mumbled.

She took one of his hands in hers. "Eragon, you should have told me. I wouldn't have made you come if I knew that -"

"And have you explain to your boyfriend why your best friend couldn't make it?" he interrupted. "Nah. It's fine. It's not like," Eragon sighed, "anything's going to happen."

Saphira crocked an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

Eragon blinked. "Yeah. Why?"

She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I see the way they look at you."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

She gave a quiet giggle. "They look at you like they want to -"

"If you say 'eat me', I'll commit suicide right here and now."

She let out a loud laugh. "Can I say pounce, then?" she said and winked at him.

Eragon stared at her blankly. "Do I look amused to you? I'll give you a hint; it starts with an N and ends with an O."

Saphira shook her head amusedly. "Come on; let's get back to the others before they ask what's wrong."

"You know our friends. They will anyway. Especially Aksel," Eragon grimaced. "He never stops asking until he gets an answer."

"Oh, shush you. He just cares about you."

"Sometimes I wish he didn't."

Eragon winced when Saphira slapped him in the back of his head. He sent her a sulky look. She rolled her eyes. "Now, we need to come up with an excuse. What could possibly have been so wrong that you had to drag me away from the group?"

"I don't want to be here and tried to convince you to let me go home? That should be convincing enough," Eragon shrugged.

"Yes, it should. Especially since you don't actually want to be here," her eyes twinkled amusedly.

Eragon glared at her. Saphira just tugged him along back to the group.

**::Seen It All::**

Eragon was relieved and surprised when his friends accepted the excuse he and Saphira had cooked up. He was more relieved than anything else, of course. Sometimes it helped to have the anti-social reputation in their group.

"Don't worry about the movie," Saphira whispered to him a few minutes after they had sat back down. "You can sit next to Thorn and me."

"If I was worried about that, I would point out that my other side would be uncovered," Eragon whispered back.

Saphira rolled her eyes. "I'll talk to the girls. I'm sure they will want to sit beside you."

"Well, they will ask fewer questions than Aksel..." he trailed off. "Still, I don't want to make a big deal out of this."

"I'm sure they'll offer to sit beside you without me having to ask. They know how uncomfortable you are around new people."

Eragon wasn't so sure about that, but he didn't say it out loud.

Their group entered the cinema early to make sure they would all get tickets. Nasuada had already collected money from everyone and would be buying the tickets for them. They wanted to try to get seats close to each other, or even all on the same row. Eragon thought that was a long shot. He was secretly hoping that they would get seats all around the room, and that there would conveniently be one single seat that he could occupy. And if that seat was away from everyone else, then that would be optimal.

Of course, that image had been too good to be true. Nasuada came back with nine tickets, all next to each other. Eragon gave a mental curse.

But strangely enough, Eragon found himself getting one of the outer seats with Saphira beside him. He blinked and looked up at Nasuada. She sent him a wink and continued to hand out the rest of the tickets. He looked at Saphira, who smiled back at him. When Saphira had managed to talk to her was beyond him.

Their group trekked into the kiosk. Apparently Eragon wasn't the only one that believed that a movie couldn't be properly enjoyed without something to snack on. He sneaked past the people there, grabbed his favourite snacks and walked to the register. He paid for them and sat down outside to wait for the rest.

He stuffed it into his shoulder bag as he watched the others. Eragon couldn't understand why some people took forever to choose what they wanted. Then again, he was a pretty routine guy. Some people weren't.

Eragon blinked and found himself watching Tornac and Murtagh. He looked away hurriedly. He hoped no one had seen that. He didn't want them to get the wrong idea, even if it perhaps was the _right_ one.

It had been a one-night stand, and it would remain a one-night stand. The only reason they had looked at him like they had was because they were amused. They had probably recognised the shock on his face. They knew Eragon hadn't wanted to see them again and was amused by the fact that fate had screwed him over. That was that. They were not looking for a repeat performance.

Eragon looked up and felt his eyes widened when he saw Tornac and Murtagh at the register. He was still the only one in their group that had found what they wanted. He was all alone. They were bound to walk up to him.

He needed a plan, fast. But he couldn't act too fast. He didn't want it to seem like he was avoiding them, even if that was what he was doing.

Eragon gulped. He fidgeted slightly. They were almost finished. He had to act!

It hit him like a lightning bolt. He could go to the bathroom! He stood up and immediately felt the downside of his plan hit him. If he did and they saw him, they could follow him. He cursed.

Without knowing what else to do, he walked back into the kiosk and approached his friends.

"Hey," Saphira said as he approached them. She chewed on a piece of popcorn as she struggled to pick a drink.

"Got bored, huh?" Aksel asked cheekily. "You could have just waited with Hunk One and Two."

"Do I need to look for a new boyfriend?" Vanir drawled.

Aksel let out an awkward laugh. Vanir rolled his eyes and walked on. "Seriously, Hunk One and Two," Aksel whispered.

"You know I'm not very comfortable with strangers," Eragon rubbed the back of his neck.

Saphira choked. Eragon looked at her and tried not to let the panic show. Aksel looked between them suspiciously. "Is there somethin' goin' on that I should know about?"

"Oh no, not at all," Saphira chose a bottle of water and walked to the register.

Aksel turned his gaze to Eragon. "There isn't," Eragon said, feeling beyond relieved when he sounded calm.

"...Ok," Aksel didn't sound convinced, but he let it go.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all inside the movie theatre and were waiting for the movie to begin. Eragon leaned back into his seat so he could see the screen better. It sucked to have the outer seat, but it beat sitting next to Murtagh and Tornac.

He heard the others talk quietly amongst themselves as they waited for the movie to begin. Suddenly he felt very alone. He was the only one there without a date. Just a month ago it hadn't been like that. But now, suddenly both of his best friends had a dates. He had no one.

With a heavy heart, he almost missed the opening of the movie. He looked up just in time to see the first actor being introduced. He let out a soft sigh and prepared himself for two plus hours of aimless staring.

**::Seen It All::**

Eragon was bored. About twenty minutes into the movie he realised he had seen it before. He should have voiced his opinion. Now he was stuck watching a movie he had seen not that long ago. While it was entertaining, it was so fresh in his mind it appeared dull.

He managed to keep himself partially entertained by going over the lines in his head. Sometimes he correctly guessed the upcoming line, sometimes he didn't.

He managed to stay entertained throughout three quarters of the movie. Eragon usually only remembered the beginning and the end of movies, and this time was no different. He remembered the ending quite clearly, so once it was clear that it was only a half-hour left of it, he felt the boredom sink in.

It was also then that his bladder started to protest. Eragon had the tendency to snack or drink a lot when he was bored, and it always had its consequences. He bit his lip. He could hold for another half hour, or he could sneak out.

He really didn't want to sneak out, though. He hated it when people did that during movies, so he never did it himself.

Until now, that was. He really, really had to pee. Eragon let out a mute curse. There was no way he could hold it. He stuffed the remainder of his candy into his bag and stood. Then he made his way over to the exit.

It didn't take him long to locate the bathroom. He had been there a good few times before, and with his full bladder, he practically ran there.

Despite how full his bladder had felt, he finished in what felt like record time. Eragon flushed and got out of the cubicle. He didn't look up as he trekked over to the sinks and started to wash his hands.

It was then he noticed it. He was not alone. Eragon tried to not let that information distract him and finished washing his hands. So what if there was someone in there with him? There was no reason for him to panic or hurry out of there. Whoever it was had as much right as him to use the bathroom.

That being said, he still panicked when he looked up and recognised the two faces reflected in the mirror besides his own.

"...Hey," Eragon looked away and started to dry his hands.

"Hello Eragon."

Wait a minute...that voice sounded a little too close for comfort. Eragon turned around and promptly found a chest right in front of his nose. He looked right. Yet another chest. And to his left, there was of course a wall. Fuck. He was trapped.

"What's going on?" Eragon forced his voice to sound calm. He had a sneaky suspicion he hadn't quite succeeded, though.

"Nothing," Tornac said and shifted to lean more comfortably against the mirror. "We just wanted to say hello. You know, catch up a bit."

Catch up. Hah. That didn't sound innocent at all.

"But strangely enough, we never quite managed to catch you alone," Murtagh crocked an eyebrow. "It almost seemed like you were avoiding us."

"No!" Oh God, that sounded a little too defensive. "I wasn't."

"Lying is a sin, you know," Tornac tsk'ed.

Eragon felt his cheeks flush. "I'm not lying."

"Sure, just like you didn't leave without a word last time we met," Murtagh drawled.

Eragon felt his blush deepen. They had him there. "Ok, I give. I was avoiding you," he looked away.

Tornac smacked his lips. "Ashamed of our little gathering the other night?"

Eragon backed further into the sink behind him. It dug into his lower back, but he ignored it. "No. I just assumed you'd be ok with me leaving like that."

One of Murtagh's hands came up and connected with the mirror. Eragon had already felt trapped enough, but to now have an arm blocking his only escape route -no matter how bad that route had been- made him feel even more trapped. "And why would we be ok that?" Murtagh asked, leaning in slightly.

Eragon was thrown back to the last time he had seen the two. Even if they had been even closer then, the proximity was enough to send him a trip down memory lane. His body was starting to remember what had happened last time they had all been this close. Eragon forced himself back to the present. Now was not the time to be remembering!

"It just seemed like you had done that before..." Eragon trailed off. That had sounded so much better in his head.

Both males let out a soft laugh. "While that is true," Tornac supplied, "that guy didn't sneak out on us."

Eragon ducked his head even more.

"It's alright. We know we were your first three-way experience. A lot of people get twitchy afterwards," Tornac continued. "A note, a phone number or a goodbye blowjob would have been nice, but we understand."

Tornac yelped suddenly. Eragon looked up and found the blond rubbing his arm. Murtagh was giving him a glare-like stare. "Try to be serious for once in your life, Tornac."

"I object to that. I can be serious."

Eragon felt a sudden need to sweatdrop. He did not want to be caught in the middle of a domestic fight.

"Whatever. We can talk about that later," Murtagh waved Tornac off. "The movie is about to end. We should get back to business."

"Right," Tornac gave Murtagh one last look before turning back to Eragon. Eragon jumped slightly at the sudden amount attention. "We were wondering if you were planning to ignore us forever."

"...No," Eragon slouched slightly.

"Are you being sincere this time?" Tornac crocked an eyebrow.

Eragon frowned. "Yes."

Tornac grinned. "Good. It would have been rather sad if you had continued to ignore us." Murtagh rolled his eyes, but didn't verbally disagree. "So, how about a quick screw to properly kiss and make-up?"

Eragon felt his eyes widen as he choked on air.

Tornac let out another yelp as Murtagh hit him again. "Don't listen to this pervert," he drawled.

"If I'm a pervert, then what are you?" Tornac countered.

Murtagh ignored him. "Let's go back before people notice how long we've been missing," he grabbed Tornac's arm and pulled him along.

Eragon watched them go, still not quite recovered from the earlier shock. It took him a couple of minutes before he regained his posture and finally managed to leave the bathroom.

**::Seen It All::**

Eragon wasn't sure if he was more uncomfortable now than he had been before Tornac and Murtagh had cornered him in the bathroom. The group was taking forever to say goodbye after what had been a very uninteresting afternoon. Well...no, it had been uninteresting. That was what everyone was going to believe; that nothing had happened that day or at the party. He didn't care what Saphira said, he was keeping his mouth shut.

Before he quite knew what had happened, Eragon found himself walking home with Saphira and Aksel. He looked behind himself and found that they had been walking for at least a couple of minutes.

"Eragon?" He blinked and looked at Saphira. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Um, yeah," Eragon frowned. He couldn't have been that deep in thoughts, could he? He was sure everyone had been there just ten seconds ago. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're on their way home," Saphira stopped. Eragon felt Aksel stop beside him. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes. I just spaced out, I guess."

"Spaced out indeed," Aksel snorted. "You've been spaced out for hours. What's on your mind, dude?"

Eragon felt the blood drain from his face. If Aksel had noticed, then everyone must have noticed it. Oh fuck.

"Eragon met the guy from the party the other day. He's been skittish ever since," Saphira said before Eragon could even start to think up something to say.

Aksel whistled. "Did ya get his name this time around?"

"Uh, yeah," Eragon scratched the back of neck. "Morag." Oh great, that didn't sound suspiciously like Murtagh at all. Which made him wonder why Murtagh was the first one to enter his head. Why not Tornac? It wasn't like they hadn't both been on him like -

Ok, he was not going there right now!

"Morag huh? Sounds like a real sexy dude," Aksel wagged his eyebrows. "Tell me you got more than just his name."

Eragon was relieved when they started to walk again. He wanted to go home, preferably right now. "Don't you have a boyfriend?" he drawled, trying to cover up for...well, whatever emotion that could show on his face that wasn't welcome.

"I didn't mean for me. Duh. I meant for you."

"Uh, no," Eragon looked straight ahead.

"WHAT?" Aksel spluttered. "Eragon, I'm ashamed of you."

"He's not my type," the brunet scowled at him.

"You don't have to marry him. I just want you to get laid this century," the blond tsk'ed.

Eragon blushed. He had gotten laid, thank you very much, and enough to last a good couple of months at that.

"Say what?"

...He hadn't said that out loud, had he? "What?" Eragon asked and tried his best not to sound panicked.

"You got laid?" Oh God, he had spoken out loud. Eragon wanted to die. "When? Dude, gimme details!"

Eragon looked ahead. He nearly fainted in relief at seeing the apartment complex. "Who got laid?" he asked.

"You did! You just said so. You totally said so. Right, Saphira?" Aksel asked eagerly. Eragon hated how giddy he looked.

"Um..."

Was it really too much to ask for a lightning to come down and strike him? Really? All he wanted was to die. Now. It didn't even have to be painless!

"Wait. Wait a sec..." Aksel narrowed his eyes. "You knew?"

Eragon wasn't going to hang around for this. He stalked ahead. Maybe if he went to bed, he could wake up and realise that this had all just been one bizarre dream.

Unfortunately, by the time he reached his apartment, his keys refused to go into the lock and Aksel and Saphira managed to catch up with him.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," Aksel pouted.

Eragon didn't answer. He was much too busy trying to convince his key to fit into the lock. He knew it was the right one, damnit, so why wouldn't it go in?

"The key is upside down, Eragon."

Oh. Eragon winced. That explained it. "Thanks Saph," he muttered. He cursed the key when it slipped in this time. Fucking thing. It had probably done that on purpose.

He tried not to groan out loud when Saphira and Aksel followed him inside. Did it look like he wanted to talk? No. Not at all. Especially not about the party. If he said one wrong thing, Aksel would find out that Morag was not just one person, but two, and that his real identity was in fact Murtagh and Tornac. There was no way he could live down such humiliation.

"Listen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Aksel, but I'm not really comfortable with the whole one-night stand thing. Saphira guilt tripped me into telling her." Eragon ignored the cry of "I did not!" from Saphira and continued. "I was actually not going to tell anyone, because I didn't see the point of it."

Aksel was still pouting. Eragon, yet again, told himself that it was bad to hit people, especially friends.

"Nothing happened, really."

"Somethin' must have. Where else would the 'enough sex for a good couple of months' comment come from, hm?" Aksel crocked an eyebrow.

Eragon sat on his bed and tried not to show any obvious signs of sulking. "I don't want to talk about it, ok?"

To his surprise, Aksel nodded. "I just feel like you should be able to tell me these kinds of things, that's all, dude. You're my friend. I won't rat ya out to everyone every time you bump uglies with someone."

Eragon did not approve of Aksel's choice of words, but smiled at him nonetheless. "I know. I'm sorry."

"It's cool," Aksel gave him a wink. "Don't mention it."

Eragon nodded.

Saphira gave them her annoyingly knowing look. But right then, Eragon let it pass. Aksel was actually behaving maturely. He was going to savour this moment.

"But just so you know, I'm still dying to know what happened."

Then again, it was Aksel he was talking about. Eragon glared at him. Aksel just grinned.

**::Seen It All::**

Eragon had almost forgotten about Murtagh and Tornac when he practically bumped into them.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he muttered in disbelief. There he had been, just minding his own business. Or rather, he had been on his way to work when he had seen them. Instant response; dive behind the nearest corner.

So there he was, peeking around the corner and probably getting quite a few interesting looks, trying to see if they had caught him. It appeared like they hadn't. They were, like him, just minding their own business as they walked around town. Eragon found himself studying the dynamics of their relationship. It wasn't very obvious they were together unless you looked closer. They were just walking side by side, but people could tell they were a couple by the way Tornac leaned close when he looked at something in the windows and the almost affectionate way Murtagh touched Tornac when he shoved him away.

Eragon shook his head. He was staring again. Why did he always have to stare? Wait, what had he been doing again? His eyes widened. Fuck! He was late for work! He looked out from around the corner. They were still there. Double fuck.

The brunet frowned. He needed a way to get around them. Oh, he could just cross the street. Duh. Eragon felt like hitting himself. He could be so dense sometimes.

Eragon crossed the street and tried to appear as nonchalant as possible as he hurried down the sidewalk. He had to hurry or he was going to be super late. The last thing he needed was for his boss to physically chew him out if he was really late.

Eragon flinched when he heard someone call his name. He looked over his shoulder. His legs must have worked on autopilot, for there he was on the opposite side of the street, taking him down the usual route to work. And there they were.

Damn. "Can't talk right now. Catch you later!" Eragon called back with a wave. He then upped his speed.

He rounded the corner and cursed at himself loudly. A woman walking ahead of him turned around and gave him a very evil eye. He ignored her. Just what had he told them? He'd _catch them later_? That implied that he was going to see them later. Triple fuck.

He had no time to worry about that right now. There was the library – his current workplace. He walked up the steps, slipped inside and prayed that his boss was in a good mood.

**::Seen It All::**

Saphira was looking at him with narrowed eyes. Eragon knew that look. It never meant anything good.

"What?" he asked. He had no idea what he had done this time.

"Still avoiding Murtagh and Tornac, hm?"

What? Eragon blinked.

Saphira just gave him a look. She crossed her arms and seemed to be waiting for an answer.

"Um...no?" Eragon was confused. He hadn't really avoided them. It was hard to avoid someone you didn't know.

Oh sure, he had slept with them -cue blush- but he didn't know them.

"According to Thorn, you have been. He said something about you running away from them when they greeted you a week ago," Saphira's lips tightened. "I understand that you -"

"Wait, Thorn was with them then?" Eragon interrupted her. "I only saw them."

"Oh, he was there alright," she was still looking at him with a displeased look.

"I was late for work. I told them I'd catch them later, which yes, I do regret, but I wasn't intentionally avoiding them." Eragon forced himself not to feel guilty for telling a white lie. He had tried to avoid them, but that was his business, not everyone else's.

She sighed. "Eragon -"

"I only regret it because I don't know how to act around them!" he interrupted her again. "It's –I don't –I mean –grah."

Saphira's glare softened.

"It's not an everyday occurrence, you know, meeting up with that kind of previous lovers," he muttered, trying desperately to ignore the slight burning in his cheeks. "It's one thing to see them again and something else to actually interact with them. I can't be around them without remembering it."

Her voice took a more familiar teasing note when she spoke next. "It was that memorable, huh?"

Eragon was sure the look on his face spoke for itself.

"I don't know what to say, Eragon," she said and placed her hand on his shoulder. "But I think that even if you aren't comfortable around them, maybe you shouldn't try to offend them either."

"Offend them or your boyfriend?" Eragon's eyes widened at the cynical tone he had sported.

Saphira blinked at him.

"Fuck, Saphira, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Well, I meant it, but not like that."

"It's ok, I know what you meant," she gave him a half-smile. "And I meant them. I -"

"I have spoken to them after...you know," he bit his lip.

She blinked again. "You have?"

Eragon nodded. "At the cinema a couple of weeks ago. They cornered me in the bathroom."

Saphira let out a giggle. "And?"

"...And I promised not to avoid them," he sighed dejectedly. "I don't see what the big deal is all about. It's not like there's anything extraordinary about me."

"Maybe you don't think so, but others might not share your sentiment," she winked at him.

He stared at her for a long couple of seconds. "...You aren't seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting."

The blue eyed girl laughed. "Think whatever you want, Eragon. All I'm saying is that if someone like Murtagh and Tornac found you interesting, then you can't be that bad looking."

Eragon felt himself blushing again.

"I'm just saying that if you don't want people to find out, then you should try to act more casual around them. That's all," she smiled at him.

Eragon knew that was true, but it didn't change the fact that he found it completely impossible to do so. Granted, he had only seen them once -twice, if the "hi, bye" incident counted- so he didn't really know if it was such an impossible feat. He had a feeling that it would be, though.

**::Seen It All::**

The summer was at its peak. The weather was brilliant. The sun was shining and there was a soft chilled breeze flowing through the trees. The temperature was perfect; not too hot or too cold.

And Eragon was bored.

Sometimes it felt like the days were flying by, other times it felt like the clock had stopped completely. Now it felt like the world was at a standstill.

Eragon put his head down on the desk and sighed loudly. He instantly flinched and looked around to see if anyone had heard it. No, it appeared like he had been in luck. Sometimes he really hated his job. Or rather, he hated his boss. She could be such a harpy and would give him a death-glare if he as much as breathed too loudly. Really, what was her problem? Other people made much more noise than he did, but they didn't get the evil stare. What the hell was her problem?

Eragon scowled. He just had to work at a library, didn't he? He could have sworn it hadn't been this bad when he had first started working there.

Someone cleared their throat. Eragon, fearing it was his boss, bit back a yelp and looked up fearfully. But it wasn't his boss, though when he recognised who it was, he wished it had been.

"So this is where you work?" Tornac crocked an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah," Eragon leaned back in his seat. He discreetly looked around for anyone looking to check out a book, but his desk remained empty save for him and the two men in front of him.

"I know the head bitch here. No wonder you were in such a hurry to get in," Tornac smirked.

"Tornac, behave," Murtagh rolled his eyes.

He grinned. "Or what, you'll spank me?"

Murtagh shoved him.

Eragon was once again struck by the uniqueness of their relationship. If he hadn't known better, he might have thought they were just friends. But since he did know, he also saw the small signs that were traded between them.

"So, can I help you with anything or did you come here just to grace me with your presence?" Eragon drawled.

"Actually -" whatever Tornac had been about to say was silenced when Murtagh clamped a hand over his mouth.

"We were wonder – well, _Tornac_ was wondering if, considering the size of this place, there is a gay and lesbian shelf around?" Murtagh asked dully.

The other removed the hand from his mouth and chuckled. "Oh, like you don't want to know too."

Eragon was caught between laughing and blushing. "Um, yeah. It's in the basement, though it's very easy to miss. I think they did that on purpose. Anyway," he cleared his throat. "Just go to the romance section. It's hidden in a corner between that and the horror section."

Tornac laughed. "What a pleasant image they're trying to send out."

"I know, right?" Eragon rolled his eyes. "If you can't find it, just ask one of the employees for directions."

"Or we can just come back and fetch you," the blond wiggled his eyebrows.

Murtagh shoved him in the direction of the stairs. "Thanks for the help," he gave Eragon a half-smirk and pulled Tornac along before the other could say anything else.

Eragon watched them go. It seemed like Saphira had talked to Thorn who had then talked to Tornac and Murtagh. Sheesh. It was like he had seriously offended them or something.

He was just getting back to his routine of being bored when two other people came through the door and made their way over.

Eragon blinked. "What are you guys doing here?"

Saphira's grin was almost blinding. "Aksel has exciting news."

Eragon looked over at the other male. Aksel's grin actually was blinding, and he was practically jumping up and down. It had to be some really exciting news to make Aksel look like that. Eragon prayed that it didn't have anything to do with the books or series Aksel was so addicted to. The last thing Eragon needed was to become addicted to them too.

"So, what's going on?" Eragon asked when no one started to explain.

"I won!" Aksel blurted then, his grin never wavering.

Eragon just looked at him. "Won what?"

"That contest I entered! C'mon, you gotta remember it!"

The brunet gave him a look that told Aksel he couldn't remember.

"It's the annual summer contest at the youth centre," Saphira explained. "Aksel entered during the spring break."

Now Eragon remembered. Aksel always entered the contest, though he never won. Apparently the luck had turned around.

"And I won!" Aksel's smile actually widened. "I got four reservations at _il Munamin_, the hottest hotel on the coast of Surda. And you two are coming with!"

Eragon felt his mouth fall open.

"All we have to do is to get there on our own, and then we only have to pay for things we do outside of the hotel. The rooms and meals are already paid for. Isn't this awesome!" Aksel grabbed Eragon and hugged him. "I'm so excited!"

Eragon managed to break out of the trance. He laughed softly. He pushed Aksel back and looked at him. "Yeah, it bloody well is. I can't believe you're bringing Saphira and me, though."

"Are ya kidding? You two are my best friends. Of course I want ya there with me," Aksel winked.

"What are you going to do with the fourth reservation?" Eragon asked.

Aksel shrugged. "Dunno. Arya and Nas wouldn't go without each other, and there's no way I'm not bringing one of you, so they're out. Saph didn't want to rush her boyfriend into anythin', so Thorn's not coming. And it's the same with Vane. I don't want to scare him away, y'know?"

"You really like this one, eh?" Eragon asked teasingly.

The blond male blushed slightly. "Oh, shut up."

"Well, I guess I could move around some of my vacation time..." Eragon shrugged.

"Aces!" Aksel grinned. "We leave on the 24th, so ya better be ready then."

"...The 24th is tomorrow, and it's a Wednesday."

Aksel ruffled Eragon's hair. The brunet protested as loudly as he allowed himself to on the job. "24th of July, ya smartass. See ya in a month!"

Eragon glared after him. Saphira giggled softly, but didn't leave with the other blond. Eragon turned to her.

"Just wanted to see how you were," she smiled.

"I'm fine," he shrugged.

Saphira crocked an eyebrow.

Eragon saw someone move out of the corner of his eye then. He straightened in case it was his boss, but it was just another false alarm. In fact, Eragon would have preferred it to be his boss. He looked away when the two he had seen reached that floor and started to walk towards him.

The blue eyed girl tilted her head, clearly confused as to why he was acting the way he was. She looked behind her and Eragon saw her blink. "Ah," she turned back around. "I should have guessed."

He killed the blush that had threatened to break out.

"I'll leave you three alone," she winked at him.

Eragon spluttered. Saphira laughed and motioned for him to call her before leaving.

He was left to stare after her. He didn't stop until someone cleared their throat to get his attention. His eyes snapped away and nearly flinched at the sight that met him.

"So, uh, did you find something?" he asked.

"We did, actually. I have to say that I'm rather disappointed in the miniscule selection you carry here," Tornac tsk'ed.

"Stop complaining. You got what you came for," Murtagh rolled his eyes.

Tornac rolled his eyes, probably to mock Murtagh, but put a book on the counter.

Eragon took it, opened the cover and grabbed the stamp-card. He vaguely noted that it hadn't been checked out often, and the times it had been were recent. He stamped it and then scanned it. The name that popped up made him blink. Eragon checked the cover to make sure he was seeing right. And he was.

The Gay Kama Sutra.

Eragon couldn't stop the blush from burning hot in his cheeks. He cleared his throat and shoved the stamp-card back in its slot. "Are you sure you need this?"

Wait, what had he just said? The blush burned twice as hot now. And it didn't help that Murtagh and Tornac started to laugh.

"W-what I meant was, um, do either of you have a library card?"

He wasn't that surprised when Murtagh handed him his. Eragon took it without looking up at them, made sure it was legit and gave it back. His hand wasn't quite steady when he did so.

"You know the deal, right? Have it back here by a month or you'll have to pay a fee. You can check it out again, but you have to bring it back here first and so on," Eragon pushed it back towards the couple.

"We know the deal," Tornac winked at him.

The blush, which had been fading slightly, came back with full force.

"We just wanted something to laugh about, but it's nice to know that you don't think that we need it," the blond wagged his eyebrows.

Murtagh hit him with the book. Tornac shot the other an amused look. "Not everything is about sex, you idiot."

"But this was! C'mon, he was practically praising us for our little rendezvous. I don't know about you, but I rather like to hear -"

Murtagh put a hand over Tornac's mouth. "And that's enough out of you. Honestly."

Eragon cursed to himself when the floor, after a full minute of begging, still refused to swallow him. Stupid thing! What was it good for, anyway?

"Thank you for the directions. See you," Murtagh nodded at him.

"Uh, yeah. See you," Eragon said, saying it more out of habit than anything else.

Murtagh gave him a smirk before pulling Tornac along. Tornac winked at him before they disappeared out of the door.

Eragon's head connected with the counter. He had never felt so embarrassed in his entire life!

"Taking a nap are we, Mr. Rider?"

Until now, that was. Eragon scrambled upright and tried to look presentable. With his dishevelled hair and fierce blush, he knew he was failing. "Uh no, Mrs. Magii, not at all."

The head librarian gave him a dry look before walking away. Eragon spent the rest of the day cursing at every God he knew for not striking him down and sparing him from future embarrassment.

* * *

**A/N** I'm sorry for the lack of smut in this chapter, but that is the way it had to be. But before you start to yell at me, let me tell you that there will be more smut, just not until chapter four. As much as I'd love to write a story filled with nothing but smut, that was not the way this story progressed. I hope you can all patiently wait for chapter four.

That said, I am in progress of writing chapter three. It's half-finished, and I don't have as much writer's block on it as other projects of mine, so hopefully I can have the next chapter out this autumn.

Thank you so much for your patience. I really do hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Until next time; have a beautiful summer!


	3. Where Did You Hear That?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Eragon or anything associated with the Inheritance Cycle.

**Claimer: **I, SussieKitten, own this plot and the story. Borrow or steal my plot, my original characters (Aksel) or story and I will report you. I also own my version of Saphira/Thorn's human appearances.

**Warnings:** Slash/Shōnen-ai – meaning mild guy x guy action. Femslash/Shōjo-ai – meaning mild girl x girl action. Swearing or strong language. Mentions of drinking If any of this disturbs you, click on the "back" button. I won't tolerate any flames.

**A/N** A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed and to those that still reads this story. I know it's been ages since I updated, but I really struggled with this chapter.

A little warning. I took a lot of artistic liberties in this chapter. Since Eragon's original travels were on horseback, and I'm basing this story on a modern day universe, there are roads and therefore cars. Things tend to go a bit faster then. So therefore I estimated how far it was between certain villages and guessed how long it would take to drive there based on personal experience. It's probably all wrong, but whatever, it's my fic, right?

Also, this chapter is unbeta'ed. Hopefully it's still readable, especially since FFnet has decided to screw with my formating again. :sigh:

******::**

******NOW I'VE SEEN IT ALL**

**Part Three; **_**Where Did You Hear That?**_

The month passed relatively quickly. Before Eragon had time to blink, it was just a week before the trip down to Surda. Upon realising this, he forced himself to go and make sure he had asked for a vacation with his boss. That conversation had been one of the most horrific ones in his life. Only the Sex Ed. back in high school had been worse, and that was just because he hadn't been forced to watch some woman give birth.

It still made him wonder if the adults hadn't been trying to kill their sexual appetite. That or turn the guys gay. If he hadn't been gay before watching it, Eragon had a slight suspicion that seeing it would have turned him off girls right away.

But now with just a week to go and a stern glare from his boss that told him he had indeed asked for a week off to travel back and forth, Eragon found that things were looking up. Work wasn't as troublesome anymore. It would never cease to be terrifying, though. Mrs. Magii was, hands down, the most horrifying woman he had ever met, and he had seen Saphira in the morning when someone -aka, Aksel- had eaten up her favourite cereal by mistake.

That memory still made him shiver in fright. He hadn't known a spatula could be used to do that. He was sure Aksel still had scars, mental or otherwise, from the incident. And he had never touched her cereal again.

Even though going to work was had become less of an ache, he still treasured his lunch hour.

He had always been a routine guy, so when the clock struck twelve, Eragon did as he always did. He grabbed his bag and jacket, exchanged hellos with the girl that worked with him at the register as she came back from her lunch. Eragon never stuck around to chat, though. He then exited the library and walked down the street. There was a Subway just around the corner where he ate lunch twice a week. He packed his own lunch the other times and ate wherever he wanted. He ate at the park during the summer. When it became colder, he stayed inside the library and ate in the employees lounge.

Eragon smiled slightly as he walked down the street. The weather was warm, but there was a slight breeze that made it comfortable. He had avoided his boss' wrath all morning and hadn't been involved in a freak accident yet. All in all, it was shaping up to be a good day.

The brunet walked inside and was pleasantly surprised when there were only two people in front of the register. He was quite hungry.

Five minutes later, he was sitting at a table by the window eating one of his favourite sandwiches. He leaned back in his chair and looked out at the people walking down the street. He enjoyed watching people. He amused himself with wondering what was going through their minds, what they did for a living and who or what they were going to.

Like, for instance, the woman that was doing her make-up as she walked past him. She had to be in a hurry since she couldn't have done that earlier, or stop to do it in some public bathroom. She quickly left his mind when a guy walked past, however. His hair looked identical to some anime character Eragon couldn't remember the name of. Eragon hadn't known that was physically possible until that guy had come along.

He was so busy staring after the guy that he didn't notice someone sit down at his table.

He shook his head and went to take another bite out of his sandwich. It was then he noticed the company. He froze.

"Hello Eragon," the blond said with a smirk.

It was official. The Gods hated him.

"Hey," he mumbled and took another bite. Somehow it didn't taste as good anymore. Damn them for making his favourite sandwich taste dull.

"Do you mind if we sit?" Tornac continued.

That question was rather pointless, seeing as they were already sitting, but Eragon kept himself from mentioning it. Eragon had chosen a table with only two chairs, but somehow Murtagh had grabbed a chair and put it down without making a noise. He now sat at the free edge of the table which was opposite the window. That left Tornac, who Eragon noticed had taken a seat opposite himself.

Eragon bit back a sigh and shrugged. "Sure."

"If you don't want us here, we can leave," Murtagh said. He had been resting his arm against the back of his chair. Upon speaking, he let it fall and looked ready to get up.

"No," Eragon was quick to say. What was up with him? So they had had a one-night stand. So what? He didn't have to be a total bastard because of it. "It's fine, really."

Murtagh relaxed and Tornac's grin widened.

"So, what's new with you?"

Murtagh face-palmed. He shot Tornac a vaguely irritated look. "Seriously?" he said dryly.

"What?" Tornac looked at him innocently. "It's a normal and perfectly innocent question."

"Nothing you ever say is innocent or _normal_."

Tornac almost looked proud.

Eragon took a small bite and tried not to look too awkward.

"That aside," Murtagh shot Tornac a last look before turning to Eragon, "how are you?"

"And that's not the same that I said, just with different words?" Tornac was given an elbow to the ribs rather than an answer. Tornac rubbed the area with an actual pout on his lips.

Eragon tried not to laugh. "I'm fine. Nothing new has happened recently." And he felt no sudden urge to tell them about his upcoming trip to Surda, so he left that out.

Tornac crocked an eyebrow. Apparently the elbow hadn't hurt as much as he had made it look, because he looked just fine now. "No boyfriend?"

Eragon forced down a blush. "No."

"They don't know what they're missing," Tornac winked at him. Murtagh rolled his eyes at this. "Then again, no one could ever live up to our standards, so maybe -" he was cut off by another elbow to the ribs.

"Tornac," Murtagh said sharply.

"I forget why I'm with you. You always abuse me," the blond shot him a look.

Murtagh actually smirked. "You weren't complaining last night."

Tornac slowly raised an eyebrow. "Not the kind of abuse I was talking about, but at least you answered my question."

Murtagh chuckled.

Eragon took a sip of his water bottle and pretended not to just have had a flashback of the other two making out. It was not fair that he was getting hard again when the other two looked so calm and collected.

"So, no boyfriend," Tornac said and leaned back in his seat. "That gives you plenty of time for -"

A sharp look from Murtagh cut him off.

"What? I was going to say 'studying'," Tornac said with something that looked very much like a pout.

Murtagh did not look convinced.

"I was!"

"It's in the middle of the summer, Tornac," Murtagh drawled.

"So?"

Eragon couldn't help it; he laughed.

The other two were silent for a few seconds before erupting in laughter as well. Eragon didn't care what they must have looked like to others; he was having a surprisingly good time. And right then, as he felt the awkwardness between them start to fade, that was all that mattered.

**::Seen It All::**

The rest of the week passed surprisingly quickly. It seemed like Eragon had been sitting with Murtagh and Tornac for lunch one second, then the next Saphira was pulling him out of his bed and nagging at him for not being able to get up on time or even alone.

Thankfully he had packed the day before, so Eragon just had to get up and get dressed before they could leave.

Eragon tried to stifle a yawn as he walked down the stairs. He failed of course. He wasn't sure why, but he was really tired. It was probably a good thing. He wasn't a big fan of driving by car, especially not when the trip was going to last for several hours. Maybe he could fall asleep and wake up to suddenly find himself in Surda?

Aksel and Saphira would most likely moan at him for being such a party-pooper, but so be it. He liked to sleep, damnit. It certainly didn't help that it was currently six o'clock either.

"- and Vanir are most likely already at the car waiting for us. You really need to learn how to operate your alarm clock."

Saphira's voice had been a sort of background noise since they had exited his apartment, but now it jumped right into frequency. Say what now?

"Vanir?" he said confusedly.

Saphira looked at him. She crocked an eyebrow. "Yes, Vanir. Aksel's boyfriend. He's coming. We talked about this a week ago, remember?"

Truthfully, Eragon couldn't remember such a conversation taking place. If it had happened right after his lunch with Murtagh and Tornac, that might explain why.

Saphira rolled her eyes. "Aksel finally told Vanir where he was going -you know how he can be- and Vanir promptly told him that he was coming along. I don't blame him," she snorted. "Aksel flirts like crazy. It's in his nature. And he always thinks that it's harmless. But some people might not see it that way and -"

"I get it," Eragon said, cutting her off. "Vanir wants to make sure no one takes advantage of him."

Saphira smiled. "Exactly. Thankfully the reservations were for two double rooms, so you and I can share."

"Uh, yeah, definitely. I'm not going to stay with a guy I hardly know and I'm not staying with Aksel when I know he'll most likely be pulling his boyfriend over to have sex at 3 in the morning."

Saphira let out a soft giggle. "Exactly. So we probably need to come up with a sort of code so I know when to stay out of the room."

Eragon was confused for about five seconds before he realised what she meant. He blushed. "I'm not coming along to get laid," he said sourly.

"Of course not, but we know what happened the last time you weren't looking for a shag," she said, and to Eragon's horror she was actually smirking.

"I hate you." He glared at her and stomped off towards her car.

Saphira only laughed.

As Saphira had said, Aksel and Vanir were already at her car. She unlocked it and the four of them put their bags into the trunk. Afterwards it was only natural that Saphira got in the driver's seat and that Eragon sat down beside her. The couple sat in the back.

Eragon hoped that Aksel wouldn't get any 'ideas' during the trip. He was in no mood to listen to Aksel's stifled giggles and...well, whatever sounds Vanir would be making.

Eragon effectively killed the blush that was trying to break out and turned his attention to the radio. Saphira, Aksel and he had very similar taste, though Aksel could actually listen to techno while Saphira listened to pop and love songs. Eragon stayed on the rock, side of their playlists. He was gay, but he wasn't that gay.

The song that came on now was one he actually liked. Eragon had already noticed that Saphira had plugged in her iPod and knew that there would be songs he'd have to suffer through later. They had already agreed to bring all of their iPods and a few selective CDs so they wouldn't have to listen to the same songs over and over.

Eragon vaguely wondered if Vanir had gotten that message and what sort of music he listened to. For a minute he entertained the idea of Vanir listening to opera and musicals and had to stifle a laugh. If Vanir actually listened to that, Eragon wouldn't be surprised. He could already hear Vanir lecture them about the intellectual stimulation you would get from listening to opera.

A few minutes into the drive and Eragon was surprised to notice how willing Vanir actually was to talk. Saphira easily engaged him in conversation about the ancient history of Alagaësia and Surda, of all things. Vanir was apparently a major in their local ancient history. Eragon would never have guessed that Aksel would go for a type like that.

Eragon tried to listen in, because history was always something he had found fascinating, but soon enough he was drifting off.

**::Seen It All::**

Strangely enough, Eragon apparently wasn't the only one that was tired. Though, when he thought about it, it wasn't that much of a surprise. They had been on the road at six in the morning, and since Vanir no doubt spent the night at Aksel's place, who knew how much sleep they had gotten. Eragon wasn't going to think about that too much, however. Thinking about Aksel having sex was like thinking about Saphira having sex. They were all like siblings, and you just didn't think about siblings having sex.

In the back, Aksel had fallen asleep a few minutes ago with his head resting on Vanir's shoulder. Eragon had looked back when Aksel had fallen silent and the sight that met him had shocked him.

He had seen Aksel asleep before, so that part wasn't as shocking. Aksel looked very normal in his sleep. It was almost hard to believe that he was a complete psycho while awake. No, what had shocked him was the look on Vanir's face.

As Eragon watched, Vanir put an arm around Aksel and adjusted how the blond lay on him, obviously to make it more comfortable for the sleeping part. He brushed a stray lock of hair out of Aksel's eyes, then leaned back in his own seat and just watched the blond.

Aksel of course had to ruin it all by letting out a loud snore. But there was only a slight flash of irritation in Vanir's eyes before he went back to watching Aksel almost fondly.

Eragon looked over at Saphira and saw the same look on her face. She was as shocked as him. They shared a private smile before looking in their separate directions. And as Eragon watched the scenery fly by, he couldn't help but to feel happy for Aksel. He most certainly deserved this.

**::Seen It All::**

It was now two hours into their trip and they were making their first stop just outside of Gil'ead. Eragon had slept for the first hour and a half and had woken up to Aksel falling asleep. Eragon was surprised he hadn't woken up when Aksel had been awake, but Saphira had explained to him that Aksel had been very considerate and had spoken in a soft voice.

Eragon considered that a small miracle in itself.

Sometime when he had been asleep, Saphira had switched from her iPod to the usual breakfast chatter that was on the radio. So when they rolled to a stop at a drive-by, a band that Eragon was sure he knew the name of was playing softly.

"As long as we check in before four, we're good, so we're in no hurry," Saphira said and turned off the engine.

As it was just past eight o'clock, Eragon had to agree. They had already driven about a quarter of the way there.

Vanir shook Aksel awake as Eragon and Saphira stepped outside. Eragon chuckled at Aksel's startled cry of "HOLY MANGO JUICE!"

"Sometimes I wonder where he comes up with those," Eragon said to Saphira.

The other giggled. "Me too."

They all went inside the drive-by after Saphira locked the car. They were all seated at a booth ten minutes later with their breakfasts in front of them. Vanir and Aksel sat at one end of the table while Saphira and Eragon sat at the other.

There weren't many people there at this time of the day, but Eragon had spotted a family sitting in the other corner of the drive-by and a couple of truck-drivers sitting close to the exit. Other than that, it was very deserted. Eragon didn't mind that at all, especially not when Aksel seemed to have woken up completely and was telling a story animatedly. Saphira had probably heard it before, but she was laughing nonetheless.

Eragon tuned in just in time to hear the end of Aksel's story.

"And that's why you gotta love Japan. They come up with the craziest stuff."

Eragon was confused. He couldn't remember a story about some sort of Japanese invention or concept that made Saphira giggle like that.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Vanir drawled, which only made Saphira giggle harder.

Everything progressed relatively normal from there on. Because it was such a long way to Surda, they planned to stop by a few sights as well as somewhere to get lunch. Aksel went to the bathroom again while Saphira was still finishing off her toast. Eragon and Vanir had already finished eating.

"I really want to stop by the Burning Plains. It's supposed to be really powerful," she said.

"What it stands for is more powerful than the sight itself," Vanir said then, never once looking away from whatever he was looking at. His gaze had been firmly planted at something on the other side of the window.

"I'll be the judge of that," Saphira said and brushed off her hands after the last bit of the toast was consumed.

Aksel came back from the bathroom then. He immediately went back to absently sipping his drink. When Eragon thought about it, it really was no wonder Aksel had to make so many bathroom stops. He certainly drank enough.

"Are we ready to go, then?" Vanir asked and got up.

"I'll just make a quick pit stop at the bathroom," Saphira said and grabbed her bag.

"I think I'll do the same," Eragon got up as well.

"Hey, why don't we all do the same?" Aksel got up and pulled at Vanir's arm.

"You were just in there, Aksel," Saphira said a little hesitantly.

"Yeah, well, I gotta go again."

Eragon face-palmed.

A couple of minutes later, Eragon was stepping out of the drive-by. He could see that Saphira was already sitting in the car, and he had exited at the same time as Vanir. They both made their way over to the car.

Eragon slipped into the passenger seat and prepared to wait a while. God only knew how long Aksel was going to take. Sometimes it took him two seconds, sometimes ten minutes.

He just finished that train of thought when he saw a familiar blond blur run out of the building. Eragon blinked.

Aksel was in the car and had buckled up before Eragon even had time to ask him what was going on.

"Drive!" he hissed at Saphira. He was sweating a bit. Eragon wondered what the hell was going on to make him act like this.

Saphira only blinked at him. "Aksel? What's -"

"Don't ask! Just drive!"

"You better listen to him," Vanir said very seriously.

Eragon checked to see what Vanir was looking at. He saw two truck-drivers walk out of the drive-by just then. They both looked pissed.

Saphira needed no further encouragement. She started the car and drove off in a hurry.

No one spoke until they had driven for five solid minutes.

"Aksel, what did you do?" Saphira asked, looking at him through the rear-view mirror.

Aksel sweatdropped. "Nothing. I mean, it wasn't a big thing. A really small thing, really. I don't see why they had to get all touchy-feely about it."

"Aksel," she said sternly.

Eragon turned around and looked at his male best friend. Vanir was looking at Aksel as well.

"...I may have joked about them overcompensating by drivin' those big trucks of theirs?" Aksel rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Ten seconds of silence, then...

"AKSEL!"

**::Seen It All::**

After making sure that there were no bulldozing trucks following them, the rest of the ride continued on a much lighter note. Eragon really had to wonder about Aksel sometimes, though. You did not mess with truck-drivers. Honestly.

They made a quick stop at Gil'ead to look at the beautiful Isenstar Lake. The fear of the truck-drivers had dissipated by then. They didn't stay long since they still had quite a few miles to put behind them, and carried on after a brief fifteen minute break.

From then on, they only stopped if anyone -namely Aksel- needed to go to the bathroom again. Saphira had been smart enough to take her camera out of her bags. Therefore, if the scenery was nice, Saphira and Eragon would switch between taking pictures with her camera while they waited to continue on.

Eragon really hoped that she had also brought another memory card. Because from the way they seemed to be snapping picture after picture, the current card would get used up before they even reached their hotel.

The next couple of hours were filled with car games as well as music. Apparently Aksel had slept enough and was easily bored. Then again, what else was new?

After a couple of rounds of twenty questions and _I Spy_, which got rather boring, Saphira suggested another game they could try. Saphira, being the avid _Friends_ fan that she was, suggested a game she remembered from a couple of episodes.

"We can do it like truth or dare. Only one person asks, and, well, we can try to answer at the same time. If that becomes too chaotic, then we'll switch to just one person answering," she suggested. "It's very simple, really."

Aksel turned around from the passenger seat to look at her better. Vanir had taken over for Saphira as the driver about a half-hour ago when they had been only a few miles away from Bullridge. Their next stop was going to be in Uru'baen for lunch, which was about an hour and half away from their current location.

"You're supposed to clear your head and say the first thing that comes to mind. For instance," Saphira thought for a few seconds, "Which do you prefer – cats or dogs?" she said an example. "Then you have to answer one of those two alternatives."

"We can ask whatever, right?" Aksel asked.

She nodded.

Aksel grinned widely.

Eragon had a feeling that they had unleashed a monster.

He was proven right when it was Aksel's turn to ask a couple of minutes later. So far, the questions had been easy and innocent enough, such as which song they hated the most (curtsey of Eragon), who they'd rather be stuck in a room with (curtsey of Saphira) and which family member they'd punch if they had the chance (surprisingly, this came from Vanir).

Then came Aksel's question.

"Which trait would you rather have in your partner – a big dick or skills in bed?"

They all glared at him.

"What?" he practically whined. "It's a legitimate question."

"Pick a new one, Aksel," Saphira said sternly.

"You're no fun," he stuck his tongue out at her. "It's not like it's a horribly question."

"But are you sure you want to ask that with your boyfriend sitting right beside you?" Eragon had to ask.

Aksel actually grinned. "Sure. I even know what he'd answer."

Eragon couldn't see Vanir's face, but something told him it was filled with disbelief.

"Humour me," Vanir drawled.

"Skills of course, even though I have both," the blond male answered unashamed.

"Aksel!" Saphira put her hands over her ears. "Too much information!"

Aksel just continued to grin.

They moved along and didn't let Aksel ask another question for at least fifteen minutes. But then even Vanir was feeling a little guilty, or so Eragon thought, because it was him that passed his turn over to Aksel.

Of course, that was also a mistake, seeing as Aksel's next question was no better than the first.

"Who would you rather sleep with – Senator King or professor Shade?"

"NO!"

They went back to _twenty questions_ after that, much to Aksel's disappointment. That was, until he realised he could still have his fun this way, just in a different way.

There was no doubt about it. Aksel was incorrigible.

**::Seen It All::**

They left Uru'baen around one o'clock after eating lunch there at a small, but comfy diner. Thankfully, their lunch hadn't been as adventurous as their breakfast, but Vanir hadn't let Aksel go to the bathroom alone just to be sure.

From there on, they drove further south. An hour and a lot of embarrassing sing-alongs later, and they arrived at Furnost. They stopped there to take a quick look at the Tüdosten Lake. They made the stop there a bit longer than they stopped at the Isenstar Lake to take a quick look at the border of the Hadarac Desert.

Eragon quickly decided that he was never going for a safari in the desert, because just by standing on the border and taking pictures, he could already tell that it was hot as hell in there. But pictures were still taken, and as with the other times they had stopped, some of them were of the landscape while others were silly or just regular group-shots.

After about an hour, they left Fornost and drove on. At all of their stops, Vanir had served as their own personal tour guide, proving to them that he was indeed a History major and enthusiast. And despite what Eragon had feared in the beginning, Vanir found a way to make the history interesting rather than dull. Even Aksel had been paying attention. Vanir told them about the Isenstar and Tüdosten Lake, a few fun-facts about a couple of the cities they passed through, the Hadarac Desert and the Beor Mountains.

Eragon would never forget the mountains. Even though they would be visible probably even from Surda, he would never forget the first real sight he had of them. They really were tall.

They only had one more stop before they reached the border. From then on, they planned to drive straight to the hotel. They planned to visit Aberon, the capital of Surda, on the way home. There was no reason to drive past the hotel to get to Aberon just to see it now when they could wait until the weekend was over.

The Burning Plains was the last stop they made. From Fornost, they had driven west and down towards the border. They planned to drive across the border and to the city of Cithri after looking at the Plains. But since there was no big city near the Plains, just a couple of tourist shops and diners, they had to take care of themselves.

Like Vanir had said, the Plains were indeed a powerful sight. They stepped out of the car and looked down at the smouldering grounds before them.

"Wow," Saphira breathed.

"Though there is no active volcano nearby that we can see, these grounds are a sure enough sign that there have been and probably still is volcanic activity beneath the surface," Vanir said, already going into Historian mode.

Saphira brought out her camera and started to snap pictures. Eragon stayed close to her. Aksel stayed close to Vanir, but they were all pretty close together. Vanir's voice carried easily between them.

Eragon's eyes were glued on the sight. The Plains were literally smouldering. As they watched, a wall of flames rose up from a crack in the ground. Eragon heard the other gasp, and was sure he did so himself.

"There is said to have been carried out many battles on these grounds," Vanir continued. "The old folklore tells of a battle that happened here between Dragon Riders; some good, some evil. It says that the dragons breathed so much fire that burned everything around them and burrowed down beneath the earth, and that it is that fire that keeps these Plains burning to this day."

"I love how you know folklore stuff like that," Aksel said very fondly.

Eragon found himself looking over at the two.

Vanir was looking down at Aksel, even though there were only a few centimetres difference in their heights. He had a cool, yet relaxed look on his face. "I did study this, you know," he drawled.

Aksel grinned. "I know."

The brunet looked away before he could see them kiss. Oh yeah, there was no way he was getting a room next to those two.

**::Seen It All::**

It didn't take them long to get across the border, and from then on, it was only an hour and a half to Reavstone, the city they were going to stay in.

The last part of the drive was subdued compared to the other parts. Saphira switched places again with Vanir when they crossed the border, and from then on, they just chatted. More often than not, they just listened to the music of whatever iPod was currently playing.

Eragon was glad the sing-along had ceased, though. There were so many songs he was never going to look at the same way again, and it was all thanks to Saphira and Aksel. He believed Vanir shared his sentiment, as the older man hadn't sung along much either, apart from the few times Aksel had literally forced him to.

After travelling for almost nine hours, they finally reached Reavstone. While it was not the capital of Surda, Reavstone still got its fair amount of tourists. It was the largest city close to the ocean and lots of people came there during the summer to walk along the beach and dive into the crystal clear water. And when the end of July approached and the summer was at its peak, teenagers and young adults came from all over. They came to drink until they got alcohol-poisoning, party until they couldn't stand up straight anymore and have lots of sex with total strangers. A typical vacation, in other words.

"Here it is," Saphira said as they got out of the car. "_il Munamin_."

Eragon looked up at the hotel. It was a rather ordinary looking. Eragon guessed it had about six floors and it was painted in a warm, sandy colour. The lobby had large windows that invited everyone to look inside. The other windows were considerably smaller.

Eragon turned around and looked at the view. The road was the only thing between the hotel and the sea. The beach was crawling with people. There were several bars and restaurants next to the hotel and according to the hotel's website; there was an indoor and outdoor pool as well as a few sports courts.

The brunet doubted they would run out of things to do, especially since there was a local market that was up every night as well as the sites of the actual city.

They checked in before Aksel could run off, as he had looked sorely tempted to do. The rooms they got were on the same floor and opposite each other. Eragon quickly claimed the bed next to the window. He knew the sounds from outside would penetrate the room anyway, but he liked to be closer to a fresh breeze when he was trying to sleep.

After getting settled, they agreed to take the afternoon off and do whatever they wanted and meet up in the lobby later to go to dinner. Even though the meals were already paid for, they all agreed that they could check out the local restaurants in case the hotel's menu was too dull.

"So, what are you going to do?" Saphira said as she came out of the bathroom. Her hands were expertly pulling her hair back into a high ponytail.

Eragon pushed himself up to a sitting positing and looked at her from his place on the bed. Even though he had slept during the ride over, that was hours ago, and sitting in a car for hours at an end had always made him tired. "I think I'll take a nap."

"Make sure you don't sleep too long, ok? Or you won't be able to sleep tonight."

"Yes, mother."

Saphira rolled her eyes. She put on her sandals and grabbed her bag. "I'll be down by the pool if you want to join me later."

"The pool? You looking to hook up?" Eragon asked teasingly.

She shook her head. "Unlike you, Eragon, people don't stare at me all day because I'm cute," she paused. "No, that's a lie. I'm beyond cute. But I'm taken, and I'll make sure the scumbags here know it," she winked at Eragon.

Eragon blinked. "...And how do you plan to do that?"

She smirked and lifted her right hand and wiggled her fingers. There was a ring there that Eragon knew she had gotten on her sweet sixteen, but from afar it looked like a wedding ring.

"You're going to break a lot of hearts, Saphira, including your boyfriend's."

Her blue eyes twinkled as she laughed. "I'll see you later, Eragon," she waved and left.

Eragon let himself fall back on the bed. He kicked off his shoes and curled up on top of the covers. He had already taken off the bedspread, so it was just a soft pillow and a thin sheet under him. He sighed and closed his eyes. He was asleep within minutes.

**::Seen It All::**

Eragon was only allowed about two hours of delicious sleep before he was viciously shaken awake and dragged down to the pool. Apparently two hours were a lot. What did Saphira know? It had felt like mere minutes! And he was still tired, damnit!

"Come on and liven up, would you? You don't have to look like it's a death sentence being here."

Eragon just scowled at her and looked away.

Despite the beach being so close, the pool was by no means deserted. There were mostly young adults lounging about. A family could be spotted here and there, but they seemed to stick to the kiddie pool. Eragon suspected that the other families with children were at the beach.

Music was flowing out of some overhead speakers that Eragon hadn't yet been able to locate. So far there had only been pop melodies about summer love or love in general and spicy dance songs. If any techno beats started up, Eragon was fleeing to his room, damn Saphira's wrath.

"Oh, stop sulking."

Eragon looked over at the young woman that claimed to be his friend. "I'm not sulking."

Saphira looked back at him and crocked an eyebrow. Eragon could see the disbelieving look in her eyes through the light blue tint of her sunglasses. "Of course not. You're pouting."

Eragon felt the beginning of a pout start to make its way onto his lips and quickly pressed them together in a straight line. "I'm not," he mumbled, not even daring to open his mouth. So, of course, what he really ended up saying sounded something like "emnok".

Saphira let out giggle. "You're too cute sometimes."

Eragon was severely tempted to throw his sun lotion at her. But Saphira was a very scary woman when angered, so he just reminded himself that he quite liked his balls intact which effectively killed the urge to throw anything at her.

How he had ended up with such a sadistic girl as his best friend was beyond him.

"So, how did the fair maiden manage without a companion to keep her safe?" Eragon drawled a few minutes later.

It was boring just lying around in the sun. He had no idea how Saphira did it. Then again, she was reading a magazine, though Eragon wondered how she managed to concentrate. The pool was quite noisy.

"Just fine, good sir," she smirked at him. "You shouldn't worry about the fair, yet taken maiden. You should worry about your own innocence."

Eragon blushed and scowled at her. "I'm hardly innocent."

"Sex has nothing to do with innocence," Saphira told him. "Who is more innocent – the one who has had sex but is still able to blush when embarrassed, or the one who is still a virgin who cannot even get embarrassed?"

Eragon blinked. "That's deep, Saph."

Saphira pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I actually enjoyed the philosophy course I took."

"That's because you got the cool teacher," Eragon drawled.

She giggled. "True," she put down her magazine. "But I stand by what I said. You're the one that should watch out. A couple of guys have checked you out already."

"...I don't believe you."

"You never do," she winked at him. "And where did that get you, hm?"

Eragon was a bit confused, and judging by the smirk on Saphira's face, she could see his confusion.

"It got you into a threesome," she said smugly.

Eragon spluttered and blushed.

"So, maybe you shouldn't believe me or any of your other friends again," she continued. "Apparently that's very good for your sex-life."

"Saphira!"

She giggled again.

It was official; she was never going to let him live down Murtagh and Tornac.

They hung out by the pool for another hour, during which Saphira claimed at least four more guys checked him out. Eragon didn't believe her for a second. Why? Because the guys she pointed to -discreetly, thankfully- were far too hot to go for him.

Of course, he had said the same about Tornac and Murtagh, but as soon as he thought of that, Eragon quickly stopped thinking and went back to ignoring his friend.

They went back to the room and changed. Eragon noted that Saphira kept the ring on her finger. She really had to like Thorn, Eragon mused.

They met Aksel and Vanir in the lobby as agreed. Aksel had a very satisfied look on his face that Eragon tried to ignore. He didn't even have to guess what the two had been up to. And quite frankly, that was more than Eragon needed to know.

From there on, they went hunting for a decent restaurant. As they walked, they made note of a few local sites that they could check out after dinner or some other day.

"Look there, boys!" Saphira said just as they were about to turn and head back to the hotel. "We should check that out tomorrow."

Eragon looked where she was pointing. It was a bar. Go figure.

"Do we have to?" he asked.

Saphira sent him a look. "It's just a bar, Eragon. It's not going to bite."

"If he doesn't wanna go to a bar, can we go to a club?" Aksel suggested innocently.

"NO!"

Saphira let out a soft giggle.

"No. We'll go to a bar, but not a club," Vanir said and that was the end of that discussion.

Eragon would have preferred it if they hadn't visited a bar at all, but apparently his vote didn't count.

From there on, they went back to the hotel. There had been a restaurant there they had walked past that looked promising.

"There's a bar here too," Vanir commented. "We might as well just go there."

Eragon looked, and to his dismay there was indeed a bar right next to the hotel. Figures. Now there was no way he was getting away.

Damnit.

**::Seen It All::**

Because the bar didn't open until nine pm., and having gone to bed early, the group had a lot of hours to kill before nightfall. Due to the beautiful weather, they decided to walk around town and get to know it a bit better.

That was how the foursome found themselves walking along the beach promenade. The waves weren't very strong, but the salty smell of the ocean and the soft breeze reminded them of where they were. The laughter of children echoed from the beach below them as they walked down the wooden promenade.

"It's really nice here, isn't it?" Saphira said and brushed away some hair from her face.

Eragon was glad he had shorter hair. Saphira's longer strands, which were allowed to flow freely today, kept getting into her face whenever a gush of wind flew past them.

"It's quite different from the beaches in Alagaësia," Vanir agreed. "Alagaësia is more occupied with fishing than Surda is, though I'm sure there are a few smaller villages along the coastline that has nice beaches."

"You're sure?" Aksel echoed. "And here I thought ya knew everything."

Vanir rolled his eyes.

"Fine then," Aksel huffed, and Eragon actually found himself staring at his friend in shock. "We're through."

Vanir blinked, but otherwise didn't show his feeling about the situation.

"You weren't the guy I thought you were. Leading me on like that, Vane," Aksel shook his head and turned away. "Go off and find some other guy to whisk off your feet with your so-called geography and history knowledge!" Aksel put one of his hands on the lower part of his forehead and partly over his eyes; as if to block out the world around him. The other was arm was held straight, the palm open in a motion to keep Vanir at a distance. "I wash my hands off you!"

Saphira was shaking in silent laughter, and Eragon knew why this time. With this much drama going on, it was obvious Aksel wasn't being serious. He sighed. Aksel could be such a drama queen.

By the look on Vanir's face, he had now come to the same conclusion. He rolled his eyes again and easily snuck past Aksel's arm and pulled Aksel to him. Aksel did not remove the hand over his eyes. Vanir snorted, leaned down and kissed the blond passionately.

Saphira outright giggled at this. Eragon felt himself blush in embarrassment. There had been enough people looking at them during Aksel's little performance. Now people were outright staring at the couple.

After about a minute, Vanir finally pulled back. Despite the shortness of the kiss, both of their lips were slightly red. Vanir looked smug while Aksel looked a little dazed.

"Alright, fine," Aksel said and pushed away from him. "I'll keep you, you fraud. But only because you can do illegal things with your tongue."

Vanir smirked.

"Alright, you two. Let's move on before we attract an even bigger crowd." Saphira giggled again and started to walk.

Eragon was right behind her. If the other two suddenly decided that making out was more fun than walking around with him and Saphira, then he wasn't going to be there to watch the show.

Surprisingly enough, the couple decided to come along. Then again, they had a lot of time later to...well, Eragon wasn't going to finish that train of thought. He wasn't fond of blushing in public.

They found a restaurant overlooking a really beautiful part of the coastline and had lunch there. Vanir explained that the small, island-like formations they out on the ocean were actually reefs.

"That is where the name of this city comes from," he continued. "The reefs almost look like rocks, hence the name Reavestone."

Aksel looked at him. "...Ok, so you aren't a total fraud," he said and grinned.

Vanir crocked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

After lunch, they checked out a few attractions. The first stop was the oldest church in Surda, which was actually close to the coast. Eragon had really liked the church, which, despite the salty ocean air, had been preserved beautifully. He loved old stone churches. The group had poked around looking at old headstones before going to the aquarium.

The aquarium was huge. The brochures claimed that it was the largest one in Surda, and Eragon didn't doubt that for one minute. He hadn't seen the largest one in Alagaësia, but somehow he doubted that it was as big as this one.

They spent a lot of time looking at the displays and even managed to catch a show or two. By the time they were done sight-seeing for the day, it was seven p.m. They all agreed to eat dinner and head to the bar afterwards.

Well, the other three agreed to head to the bar after dinner. Eragon was forced to tag along.

The dinner seemed to be over in the blink of an eye, because Eragon suddenly found himself being led into the bar next to the Hotel. The Hotel had a bar too, of course, but Saphira and Aksel had insisted on this one so they could mingle and get a feeling of the night life in Surda.

Eragon concluded that it was a nice enough place. It looked clean enough and actually had a decent seating area that most people seemed to ignore. They all seemed to favour of dancing to some eighties rock tune instead of lounging around.

The bar itself actually had three floors, from what Eragon could see, though the basement seemed to be sealed off for some reason.

While the first floor had a serving area, the other three seemed to want to check the entire place out and walked upstairs. Eragon had to follow to keep his arm from being ripped out of the socket, thanks to Saphira's tight grip on his wrist.

Upstairs there was another serving and another seating area. The speakers were blasting techno beats. While this seemed to wake Aksel up, Eragon saw Saphira and Vanir agree nonverbally to go back downstairs.

They got drinks first -Eragon being the only one ordering a non-alcoholic one- before looking for a place to sit. The seating area was practically deserted, so they found a little round table easily enough. The chairs were actually quite comfy, making Eragon wonder why no one seemed to be sitting in them.

There were no flashy lights in the bar, and the volume was loud, but not so loud that Eragon knew he'd get a headache or still be able to hear ringing a week later.

The brunet noticed that Aksel still looked a little put out that they were sitting downstairs.

"I'll accompany you upstairs later," Vanir promised.

The look Aksel sent Vanir nearly made Eragon gag. It was almost sickening how in love they acted sometimes.

Eragon sent Saphira a hopeless look. He saw her shoulders shake as she giggled more than he heard the sound.

For a while, they just sat there and discussed the things they had seen and done that day. It soon became clear that Aksel was getting restless. Vanir finished his drink and got up. "Come on."

Aksel practically leaped out of his seat and dragged Vanir upstairs.

Saphira giggled softly.

"It was doomed to happen," Eragon snorted into his water.

"True," Saphira agreed and pushed a piece of hair out of her eyes.

The two friends fell silent and watched the other occupants for a while.

"So," Saphira said eventually. Eragon had lean closer and to strain himself a bit to hear her over the music. "Do you see anyone cute in here?"

Eragon blushed. Of course Saphira wanted to talk about boys.

"_No_," he answered firmly.

Saphira smirked.

Eragon muttered darkly under his breath and sipped his water. Unwillingly, he felt his eyes wander around in the room. It was hard to see who was who on the dance floor, though Eragon couldn't help but to notice the Elvis wannabe rubbing up against...someone else. It was hard to see if they were male or female.

Eragon also noticed a couple of predators. He called them that because they were looking around, obviously cruising for a victim to lure away somewhere and sex up. He made a mental note to stay away from them. Not that he had anything against sex, but the predators he could see were all...no. Just no. Guys with hair chests, gold chains and oiled back hair were people that Eragon refused to get within ten feet of. The same could be said for guys that were obviously twenty years his senior, not to mention _thirty_.

He shuddered to himself. It was so typical that the only good-looking people he ever saw were clearly already taken.

Like the couple making their way towards the bar-desk. Both were tall, very attractive and obviously together. Their hands were clasped together as the lighter haired one led the way.

Eragon frowned. Something about them seemed eerily familiar. He felt like he had seen them before.

The dark haired one leaned against the counter and ordered. His boyfriend twirled a lock of dark hair around his finger. The other looked at him and crocked an eyebrow. The blond smirked and kissed him.

"Oh my God," Saphira gasped. Eragon looked at her. She was looking at the bar-desk too. "Is that Murtagh and Tornac?"

And as the two look over and spotted them, Eragon felt his insides freeze. Their faces immediately clicked in his mind. He felt more stupid than he had ever felt in his life.

Because there they were, the banes of his existence, and they were making their way over. And Eragon hadn't fucking recognised them.

* * *

**A/N **I apologise if the road trip part seemed a bit long to you readers. But you see, in order to make the chapter flow the way I wanted it to, I needed to push in an X-something page road trip. I'm even happy with the way it turned out. For while the story is about Eragon, Murtagh and Tornac, Eragon is in the centre, and his life isn't just concentrated around those two hotties. So even if you were bored out of your minds after reading the road-trip, believe me when I say this; without it, the chapter would have been choppy. I really needed it to make it flow better.

I researched _the Burning Plains_ to death, but nothing could tell me where these Plains are actually located. All I could find was that it was somewhere along the border between Alagaesia and Surda and that the later battle between Eragon and Murtagh took place further down the river. So I took some creative liberty and placed it to the west of the Tüdosten Lake. If that is wrong, then blah, so what. At least I tried.

I also took a lot of artistic liberties with Reavestone. I doubt there are any reefs there, but hey, it's my story, right? _il Munamin_ is therefore, as you probably expect, a totally made up place.

That is all for now. Hopefully I can have the next chapter out a little quicker than this one. Hope you enjoyed it.


	4. A Sight For Sore Eyes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Eragon or anything associated with the Inheritance Cycle.I don't own the lines from Adam Lambert's song "For Your Entertainment" either.

**Claimer: **I, SussieKitten, own this plot and the story. Borrow or steal my plot, my original characters (Aksel) or story and I will report you. I also own my version of Saphira/Thorn's human appearances.

**Warnings:** Slash/Shōnen-ai – meaning mild guy x guy action. Swearing or strong language. Mentions of drinking. If any of this disturbs you, click on the "back" button. I won't tolerate any flames. Also, beware of self-betaing. There is probably a few mistakes I haven't caught.

**A/N** A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed and to those that still reads this story.

As an apology for not having updated in forever, I'm giving you guys a treat. First I uploaded a new story, which I do not expect everyone to run off and read. It's...well, to those who are familiar with my story _Surrender_, it's like that. Ish. But I would like to thank the three that have reviewed to it so far, because you guys rock! A huge thanks to **medward**, **Kiheda . Ray . T.** and** dragonrider713**. So here's the second treat, finally chapter four of this story!

I plan to post the next chapter of _Poison _soon, possibly next week, and then _Obsession_ the week after. The reason it's taking so long with _Obsession_ is because I'm self-betaing and it takes me forever to get through that story. I'm thinking of re-formatting it to the way I write now in hope it'll make it easier, but bah. We'll see. I'll keep you guys posted.

One last note. Back sometime after chapter one, I lol'ed like crazy when **SinsRose** told me in a PM that her brain died while listening to Adam Lambert's song "For Your Entertainment" while reading the first chapter. That is why this song will make a special appearance later in the chapter. :wink:

* * *

**NOW I'VE SEEN IT ALL**

**Part Four; **_**A Sight For Sore Eyes**_

Eragon wanted to die. This just wasn't _possible._ He was in Surda, for fucks sake! Murtagh and Tornac were supposed to be in Alagaësia and far away from him!

But of course the Gods were laughing at him and decided to play with him a little. Of course he couldn't take a vacation and get away from the couple.

He barely contained the urge to slam his head against the table as Tornac and Murtagh closed the distance between them.

"Why, hello," Tornac smiled. "I didn't know you two would be here."

"The four of us, actually," Saphira corrected. "Aksel and Vanir are here too."

Apparently they took this as a sign to sit down and get comfortable, because that was just what Murtagh and Tornac did. Eragon suddenly found himself with Saphira seated to his left and Murtagh to his right. Even with the distance between them, Eragon could feel the heat radiating off of Murtagh's body. He forced himself not to shiver.

"Aksel won the summer contest at the youth centre," Saphira explained. "He won four tickets to the hotel next door plus some expenses. We drove down here yesterday."

Eragon felt himself freeze when Tornac and Murtagh both looked at him. He just knew they both wondered why Eragon hadn't mentioned that during their earlier meetings.

"That was nice of him," Tornac said and looked back at Saphira.

She nodded.

Eragon really wanted to ask what the two were doing there, but he didn't dare to open his mouth in fear of what he might say.

"So, what brings you two to Reavstone?" Thankfully Saphira seemed perfectly willing to ask for him.

"We make this journey every year," Murtagh explained. "It's our anniversary. Tacky maybe," he shrugged, "but it works for us."

"Aww," Saphira smiled.

Tornac's grin took on a slightly predatory tilt. "We got together here a couple of years ago. We were down here with a few mutual friends when we suddenly woke up in bed together. We decided to try a repeat of the previous night's obvious events and here we are."

Murtagh rolled his eyes. "Thank you so much for not oversharing," he drawled.

Tornac gave a slight pout. "Can I do nothing right? At least I didn't tell them who bott-"

Tornac promptly found himself with a hand over his mouth. "That's quite enough out of you," Murtagh said firmly.

Eragon found himself thinking that, if he judged the slight blush on Murtagh's cheeks, it was Murtagh that had bottomed. He quickly blushed himself and forced those thoughts -and memories- away.

"So, where are the other two?" Murtagh said when he finally deemed it safe enough to remove his hand.

"Upstairs. Aksel's a techno freak and Vanir's whipped," Eragon found himself responding.

Both males looked at him then. Eragon couldn't stop the shiver from running through him when he saw the glimmer in their eyes.

He wanted the floor to swallow him. Why was it that every time he was around those two, things tended to take on a sexual note? Never mind that they had had sex. It seemed impossible to have a conversation with Murtagh and Tornac without sex coming up and without them looking at him at least once like they wanted to eat him.

Again, that was.

"The things men do for love," Tornac chuckled.

"Personal experience?" Saphira asked a little too eagerly in Eragon's opinion. He knew enough about Tornac and Murtagh's sex life, thank you very much.

Tornac just smirked.

"Any reason why you're just sitting around? The music is actually decent here," Tornac commented.

"Eragon hates dancing," Saphira said instantly, like it somehow explained everything.

Well, fine, it did, but Eragon really didn't want to be reminded of dancing around those two. If his mind strayed far enough, Eragon could still remember Murtagh's hands cupping his behind through his trousers. Behind him, he could almost feel Tornac ghosting his hands up his sides as he breathed on his ear.

Eragon killed the shiver that had been running up a spine – a fine feat indeed. He usually couldn't stop them. However, his dick had hardened happily at the memory. There was no stopping that.

Murtagh and Tornac shared a private chuckle. Eragon really hoped they weren't remembering the same thing he was.

Saphira crocked an eyebrow. Eragon was suddenly reminded of what she knew – too much. "What am I missing?"

Murtagh smirked. "Eragon does have that look, doesn't he?"

"Like he hates dancing and everything associated with it? Oh yeah."

Eragon pouted at Saphira. She was supposed to be on his side, dammit!

"I feel for you," Tornac said and put a hand on her shoulder. "You have to babysit him all night so he doesn't get molested."

"Hey! I'm babysitting her too, you know!" Eragon protested.

He was met by laughter. Eragon suddenly felt like leaving and going back to his hotel room to sulk. Some friends he had.

"Thank you for the compliment, Eragon, but I can take care of myself better than you can," Saphira said with a smile that said she meant no harm.

"I do not get targeted that easily!"

There was a sudden and collective silence around the table. He really hoped the couple thought Saphira was being silent because she had other altercations on her mind than the one they had to be remembering now. They were never to know that he had told her.

"I'm sorry, 'Agon, but you do," Saphira smiled apologetically.

Eragon glared at her.

"Well, why don't I remedy that a bit, m'lady," Tornac said and got up. He held out his hand

Saphira blinked owlishly at him.

"Would you honour me with a dance?"

Saphira crocked an eyebrow. She looked at Murtagh.

"He's gayer than a Maypole. You're safe," Murtagh assured her with a slight smirk.

She giggled. "Well, then I'd love to," she said and took his hand.

"Lovely," he grinned. "We'll be right back," he said, winked at them and pulled Saphira to the dance floor.

Eragon watched them blend into the mass. Suddenly he felt nervous. Murtagh had always been able to get a greater reaction out of him than Tornac – though they both made him feel like a nervous wreck. And right now he felt like a very huge nervous wreck.

"She knows."

Eragon jumped a bit. He looked over at Murtagh and hoped the guilt wasn't visible on his face.

Murtagh took a sip of his beer. Eragon tried hard not to stare at his Adam's apple as he swallowed. Murtagh lowered the bottle and let it dangle between his fingers. He gave Eragon a very pointed look.

Oh, right. He was still waiting for Eragon to answer.

"...She's my best friend," he said like it explained everything.

Murtagh let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I know how that is."

Eragon looked at him a little curiously.

"Of course, there's only so much I can tell my best friend," Murtagh smirked. "Thorn's not very big on getting details when it comes to gay sex."

Eragon choked a bit. No, something told him Thorn wasn't really into knowing every detail about Murtagh and Tornac's very active sex life.

"I imagine it's different with a girl."

The brunet nodded. "She wanted every detail. I refused," he said sheepishly.

The other chuckled. "She seemed the type. I'm surprised she let you out of there without spilling."

"Me too," Eragon admitted. True, he had been forced to part with a few details, but clearly not as many as Saphira had wanted. Eragon had always said that Saphira liked gay men too much.

"Is she the only one?" Murtagh asked.

Eragon bit his lip. He nodded. And if he had anything to say about it, Saphira was the only one that was ever going to know about it.

Murtagh looked at him closely. Eragon felt like squirming.

"Are you sure you aren't ashamed of what happened?" the older male asked very softly. Eragon had to strain himself to hear him over the music.

He looked down. It was true he might act like he was ashamed, but...that wasn't it. He was probably going to treasure the experience in a few years or maybe even look back and laugh at it, but now, so close after the fact...it did feel a bit weird to interact with them so often.

"...It's not that I'm ashamed," Eragon tried to explain. "It's just...weird to see you two so often after..._that_."

Murtagh gave a small smirk. "I understand."

Eragon blinked. "Y-you do? Because you two seem awfully comfortable fraternizing with me."

Murtagh laughed heartily. "You make it sound so scandalous!"

Eragon felt himself blush a bit. Well, it wasn't like he was off having threesomes every other night. It was a really big deal to him.

Murtagh's chuckles slowly died down. He took another sip of his beer, though the spark was still there in his eyes.

Eragon had to remind himself not to blush or get hard, no matter how good looking the other was right then.

"We don't do it as often as it may seem," the darker one said and put the bottle down on the table. "We've only done it two times so far."

Well, that was one time more than Eragon had.

"Of course, that guy stuck around afterwards," Murtagh said and smirked.

Eragon hated himself a bit when he blushed again.

"I really am sorry about that," he mumbled and looked down at the table. Oh look, a stain! He could stare at that! "...I thought you'd be ok with it."

A hand cupped his chin and lifted it. Eragon felt his cheeks flush when he noticed that Murtagh had scooted a little closer. And despite his blush, he could still feel the warmth from Murtagh's hand.

"We know that you didn't mean any harm by it," Murtagh said softly. "Though it would have been nice to have been there and see you stumbling around all cute and embarrassed afterwards."

Eragon felt his blush deepen. "Gee, thanks."

Murtagh chuckled and let him go.

The brunet looked away when Murtagh went back to his bottle. He managed to catch a glimpse of Saphira and Tornac in the crowd.

Saphira wasn't that much shorter than Eragon, but she was still obviously shorter than Tornac. But that didn't look to be hindering them much. Saphira was laughing and Tornac was smiling. Unlike the others, they were moving to the music goofily. They were obviously not dancing together as a prelude to sex, unlike most of the other couples.

"They look like they're having fun."

Murtagh hummed. "Yes, it is amazing how much fun dancing can be when you're not being groped all the time."

Eragon blushed. He wouldn't know anything about that, and he wasn't about to admit that either.

"Do you want to join them?"

"No!" Murtagh crocked an eyebrow at him. Eragon blushed and tried again. "No, I'm good."

A slow smirk spread on Murtagh's lips. Eragon forced himself not to stare at them.

"You get molested often, don't you?"

Eragon ducked his head. He was not answering that. No way in hell.

The other chuckled huskily. "I'm not surprised."

"Seeing as you two did it on me, you bloody well shouldn't be," Eragon muttered.

Murtagh suddenly fell silent.

Eragon blushed again. Oh wow, he really couldn't keep his mouth shut, could he?

"So that was what you were remembering earlier."

The brunet blinked and looked up. Murtagh's deep eyes met his gaze.

"When Saphira mentioned that you hate dancing. I could tell you were remembering something then. You were remembering us."

Eragon did not like the smug smile on Murtagh's face.

"Oh, shut it," he muttered sulkily.

Murtagh chuckled.

**::Seen It All::**

After the awkward few minutes of chatting with Murtagh, Eragon was surprised to start actually conversing with him. He had talked with Murtagh before, but Tornac had always been there. But it was surprisingly easy to talk to him alone as well.

Eragon wasn't sure how much time passed from when they started to talk more casually and until Saphira and Tornac came back, but it didn't feel very long.

Tornac sat down next to Murtagh and whispered something in his ear. Murtagh chuckled.

Beside him, Saphira flumped down significantly less elegantly than Tornac and drained the rest of her drink.

"...I can get you some water," Eragon volunteered. Otherwise he had a feeling that Saphira was facing a massive headache the next morning.

"I'll get it for you," Murtagh said before Saphira could say anything.

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Darling, could you?" Tornac hinted with a pleading smile.

"I can, but not because you called me _darling_," Murtagh drawled and walked towards the bar-desk.

Saphira giggled.

"He's such a sweetheart," Tornac chuckled.

"If you say so," she said with another giggle.

Tornac turned to Eragon. "I trust he behaved himself?"

Eragon was a loss for what to say for a few seconds. "Exemplary," spilled out from his lips before he was even really aware of having spoken.

Tornac smirked. "That's my babe."

Saphira giggled again.

Eragon blushed and looked away. Oh boy. How was he going to survive this?

Murtagh came back a few minutes later. He handed over a water bottle to Saphira and used the other to whack Tornac over the head.

"Hey!"

"I can read lips, Tornac," Murtagh drawled and sat down. "No pet names in public."

Tornac grabbed the bottle and gave Murtagh a look that was definitely the equivalent of a pout. "Why -"

"Are you still with me? I do believe you know the answer to that," Murtagh answered and took a sip of his beer. Eragon couldn't be sure, but it definitely looked like Murtagh swallowed deliberately. The flash of a tongue that came next as it licked the rim of the bottle was definitely unmistakeable.

Eragon looked at Tornac just in time to see the blond man lick his lips. He blushed again and tried not to look in Saphira's direction.

"Are you staying here long?" Saphira asked, thankfully breaking the tension that Eragon could feel all too well.

Tornac and Murtagh looked away from each other.

"We're leaving on Wednesday. That way we'll have been down here almost a week," Tornac explained. "Just like that time we got together," he leered at Murtagh.

Murtagh didn't seem fazed. "How did you four get here?"

"We drove," Saphira told him. "We set out early on Friday and got here around dinner time the same day."

"That is some drive," Tornac commented. "What route did you take?"

Saphira eagerly explained their trip to him, even including a few of their escapades. The brunet found himself sweatdropping when Saphira told them about Aksel's antics.

Tornac laughed heartily. "I remember Aksel. He sounds like my kind of guy."

Murtagh rolled his eyes. "Not mine."

Saphira smiled. "Aksel's definitely unique."

"You mean insane," Eragon corrected her.

Saphira rolled her eyes and swatted him. "You know you love him."

"Doesn't mean I have to like him."

Murtagh chuckled. "I know what that's like."

"What – hey!" Tornac protested.

Murtagh just smirked.

**::Seen It All::**

It took Aksel and Vanir almost two hours to come back down. Eragon barely noticed the time fly by after Murtagh and Tornac joined their table. Even though he still felt awkward around them, they were easy enough to talk to when there were other people present.

As suspected, Tornac and Aksel hit it off rather well. Vanir was clearly not amused by this until he realised Tornac wasn't doing anything but flirting harmlessly. He then allowed himself to be coaxed into an intelligent banter with Murtagh.

Saphira announced that she was going to the bathroom and suddenly Eragon found himself being dragged along. He was stunned for about ten seconds before he managed to respond.

"Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm a girl."

She rolled her eyes. "I know that, silly. But you should never go alone to the bathroom in a place like this. Also, I wanted to talk to you."

She slipped into the bathroom and left Eragon to ponder about those words. He definitely did not like the sound of them.

Saphira came back out. Her hands were busy retying her hair back in a complicated knot. It seemed effortless to her, but it definitely looked complicated to Eragon. "You seem to be handling yourself alright around them," she said and put her arm in Eragon's.

Eragon made sure it was stayed in his grasp. The club had gotten steadily busier since their arrival. They didn't want to lose each other in the crowd.

He shrugged in answer. "It's fine when I'm not alone with them."

Saphira sent him a look.

"...Er, it's _better_. When we're alone it's all this tension and awkwardness and blargh. I never know what to say."

She laughed softly and pulled him along. "When do you ever, Eragon?"

"Hey, I resent that."

She just looked at him smugly.

Eragon focused on the crowd and tried to find the easiest way back to their table.

"They seem to really like you, though."

Eragon felt a sudden urge to shiver.

"S-so?"

Saphira was not amused. "You're not stupid, Eragon. You know what I mean."

He did know what she meant, but that didn't mean he had to acknowledge it or even agree with it. As far as he was concerned, they were happy with having engaged in him a threesome once. The end.

Saphira nudged him, clearly not satisfied by his silence.

"I think you're wrong," Eragon answered.

She shook her head. "Well, just know that my offer still stands."

Eragon was confused. What offer?

There was a glimmer in Saphira's eyes. "We all need to try out new things, and they certainly seem interested in a repeat performance."

And then it clicked in Eragon's head. Saphira had offered to stay out of their room for the night if he got any offers.

"No! Hell no! Once was enough!"

Saphira gave him a look that made Eragon squirm. "Me thinks doth protest too much."

Eragon spluttered his denial all the way back to the table.

"Then again," she said and leaned in close just as they approached the table, "they have a room of their own. I'm sure you can use that."

"Saphira!"

Eragon immediately regretted his outburst. The four others paused in their respective conversations and looked at the two.

Saphira just batted her eyelashes innocently and sat back down. Eragon felt an urge to flee. Had it been Aksel who had said those things, then Eragon would have hit him. But he was raised to never hit girls, and besides...Saphira scared the crap out of him when she was pissed.

He slowly sank back into his seat and tried to ignore everyone's curious gaze.

"Want to tell us what that was all about?" Tornac asked amusedly.

"Yeah. I haven't heard that kind of squealin' in some time, dude," Aksel said, very unhelpfully. Eragon felt like hitting him.

"Saph just pointed out all the good looking guys here," Eragon mumbled and looked down. It was probably one of his worst lies so far, but it was worth a shot.

Tornac chuckled. "Oh really? Do share."

Eragon looked up just in time to see Murtagh roll his eyes.

"Try to pretend you're in a relationship, would you _darlin_'?" he drawled.

The other looked at him. Tornac's eyes were sparkling with mischief. "But you hit me every time I try to show my affection in public."

"There's affection and then there's _molestation_," Murtagh stated dryly.

Saphira hid a giggle behind her hand.

Aksel's eyebrows shot up, though Eragon could detect a bit of admiration in his eyes. Of course the pervert would admire someone doing that to their partner, Eragon thought to himself.

Vanir actually managed to appear unaffected. Eragon admired him a bit for that, because he could feel his own cheeks burning. He knew all too well what Murtagh was talking about.

**::Seen It All::**

Despite clearly wanting to, Aksel didn't kidnap his boyfriend and pull him back upstairs. Instead Vanir was pulled onto the dance floor as soon as a couple of eighties tunes were played.

Tornac watched them amusedly. He turned to Saphira. "He seems more of a trance person to me."

"Oh, he is," Saphira said, "but Aksel can listen to everything from Lady Gaga to Cyndi Lauper, Disturbed and Beethoven."

Murtagh looked over. "I'm torn between calling him a blaspheme and wondering how the hell his mind is screwed together."

"That's how we all feel," Eragon muttered into his drink.

Tornac laughed. "Oh yeah. He's definitely my kind of guy."

Murtagh snorted and took a sip of his water. Apparently he had consumed enough alcohol for the evening. "Don't get any ideas."

Tornac's eyes were gleaming. "I won't, luv."

Saphira shot Eragon a look which he promptly pretended not to notice.

Saphira put up with it for a total of two minutes before sitting up and demanding that he'd join her on the dance floor.

"But Saph -"

"No buts!" she said and pulled him out there.

Eragon didn't even bother to struggle. Saphira was a lot stronger than she looked.

"If you're going to say something else about Murtagh and Tornac -"

"I'm not," she said, interrupting him. "I am also not going to let you sit there and sulk all evening. We're dancing, and that's final."

Eragon hated to admit it, but he knew he was pouting. "Saph, I hate dancing."

"Suck up, 'Agon. You're not getting out of this," she said and pulled him into the mass. "Just a couple of songs and then we can go back to the table, alright?"

Eragon sighed. He really, really didn't want to dance. He hated dancing. Dancing equalled him being molested in some way or another.

Of course Saphira had to ruin it all by giving him her 'look'. She looked so cute and vulnerable that Eragon didn't have the heart to leave her. She could be so manipulative sometimes, he thought to himself.

"Fine," he groaned. "But when I say stop, it's _over_, alright?"

Saphira grinned. "Of course."

She started to dance to a pop song Eragon vaguely remembered being from the late nineties. He grimaced. It had never been one of his favourites. Then again, Eragon didn't have any favourite pop songs. There were the songs he could tolerate and then there were the ones he despised. He really despised this one.

"Come on, silly," Saphira said and grabbed Eragon's hands. "Or do I have to guide you?" she teased. She pulled on one hand after another, making him start to move a little involuntarily.

He grimaced again. "Fine, fine. God, I hate you."

Saphira just smirked.

Eragon stayed close to her during the course of the song. He was all-too aware of the single men around them. If they weren't looking at him, they were looking at Saphira. He wasn't sure which part he liked the least.

A couple of songs passed without anyone trying to openly molest him. Eragon didn't feel any safer from that, though. He knew it was only a matter of time. Such was his luck, after all.

He looked at Saphira and was surprised when he noticed a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

He felt someone pat his shoulder a second later and jumped. "May I have this dance?"

Eragon turned around and found himself looking up into Tornac's face. He looked around for Murtagh but couldn't find him.

"Where's -"

"He's around," Tornac said simply. "So, may I?"

"Be my guest," Saphira said and winked.

Eragon could only splutter as she hummed and walked away. He tried to speak but whatever he said was swallowed up by the new song that started to play.

Tornac held out his hand. "Well?"

Eragon wanted to run. No matter what Tornac said, he had a feeling Murtagh was lurking around somewhere, just waiting for the right moment to attack.

Well, not _attack_ attack, but...

For reasons unknown to himself, Eragon found himself taking Tornac's hand. His mind hissed that he was just being polite and that Tornac knew that. There was nothing more going on. It was just dancing.

Tornac put his hands on Eragon's waist. Not knowing what to do with his hands, Eragon put them on Tornac's shoulders.

The older man chuckled. "We look like a couple at their prom."

"We're not making out," Eragon said awkwardly and hated himself for doing so a second later.

Tornac smirked. "Nope, but we look awkward enough."

Eragon had to agree to that.

He suddenly realised that he knew the song that was playing. It was one of Saphira's favourites, if he wasn't mistaken.

"Hey, what's this song called?"

Tornac hummed. "I'm not sure, but I like it."

"You would," someone said behind Eragon. Eragon felt the other's breath fan over his ear and shivered.

"Oh, there you are," Tornac purred. "I wondered where you went off to."

He knew it. Eragon had an urge to slam his forehead into his palm.

"Dork," Murtagh said and stepped even closer.

It almost felt like he was moulded against Eragon's back. All that was missing was – nope, there they were. Murtagh's hands settled themselves over Tornac's on Eragon's waist.

"You know this song, right?" Tornac asked Murtagh.

"I might," Murtagh drawled. "And I'm not singing it."

Eragon blinked. What was he missing?

"Aww, please?" Tornac asked and leaned in closer.

Eragon was hit with a startling sense of déjà vu. Tornac leaning closer to Murtagh meant that he was practically plastered against Eragon's front. The only difference now was that Murtagh was behind him and Tornac was in front of him.

"No," Murtagh said simply.

Eragon jolted when he felt two thumbs start to stroke his sides through his t-shirt. It felt oddly...intimate.

"Eragon would like you to sing, wouldn't he?" Tornac said and looked down at Eragon intensely.

He froze. There was no point in denying it any longer. There was sex in Tornac's eyes, and probably in Murtagh's too. They were interested alright.

Tornac leaned in and pressed his cheek against Eragon's. "Right?" he said into Eragon's ear.

Eragon shivered.

"Down boy," Murtagh said and Eragon felt Tornac being pushed back a bit.

Eragon's gaze was starting to get a little blurry for some reason, but he could clearly see the gleeful look on Tornac's face. He was stumped for two seconds before he realised what was going on.

"_Oh, do you know what you got into? Can you handle what I'm about to do? 'Cause it's about to get rough for you. I'm here for your entertainment._"

The voice that slid into Eragon's ear was unmistakably Murtagh's. It was slightly deeper and huskier than that of the performing artist's. If he hadn't been so close, Eragon wouldn't have been able to hear him over the music. He wasn't sure if Murtagh's close proximity was a good thing or not.

"_Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet. You thought an angel swept ya off your feet. Well, I'm about to turn up the heat. I'm here for your entertainment._"

It was over as quickly as it had begun. Even though it had only lasted for a few seconds, it had felt very intimate. Eragon just knew he was blushing.

"You have a really nice voice," Eragon forced himself to say.

Tornac beamed. "See, Tag?"

Murtagh just snorted. "Even so, thank you, Eragon."

"No problem," he answered, cursing himself for not being able to stop himself from stuttering.

"Do we make you uncomfortable?" Murtagh asked.

Eragon swallowed. "A little."

"Do you want us to stop?" Tornac asked and stopped moving. Behind them, Eragon felt Murtagh stop as well.

Eragon tried to speak, but found that he couldn't. He couldn't focus on anything other than the pounding of his heart. It was definitely racing.

"I think we need to talk," Eragon finally managed to say.

Tornac lifted his eyes and seemed to be silently communicating with Murtagh. He gave a short nod and looked down at Eragon again. "Then let's talk."

**::Seen It All::**

It was surprisingly easy to say goodbye to the others. Aksel had just pouted at their departure while Vanir remained unchanged. Eragon didn't want to know which one Aksel was going to miss the most – him or Tornac.

Saphira was a completely different subject. While she didn't appear out of the ordinary, Eragon could see the glimmer in her eyes. She knew what was going on, alright. Outwardly she just expressed her relief that the couple had said themselves willing to walk Eragon back to the room, claiming that she would have worried for him otherwise.

Eragon didn't allow himself to think on the way back.

"So, our room or yours?" Tornac asked as they waited for the elevator.

"While he's rooming with someone who knows, I suggest ours," Murtagh answered.

"Saphira knows? Damn. I should have guessed. She looked way too smug."

Eragon blushed and looked down. "Your room is fine."

Tornac and Murtagh had a room on the floor above Eragon. Almost exactly above the room, if each floor was mapped out identically. Eragon hoped not, or if it was, that the rooms were soundproof.

Of course, they had already been there a day, and he hadn't heard anything from the room above. Knowing the couple and the fact that this was their anniversary, then they had most likely not been very quiet at night.

Murtagh unlocked the door and let the other two enter. Unlike Saphira and Eragon's room, this one had a king-sized bed.

"Murtagh was not happy when they actually asked if we wanted two queens or a king," Tornac said and smirked.

Murtagh rolled his eyes. "You all-but had your hands down my pants. The girl must have been blind if she had to ask."

Eragon quickly made a bee-line for the desk and the chair behind it. He pulled the chair out and sat down. There was no way he was sitting on that bed.

Murtagh and Tornac obviously did not have the same restraints. Then again, it was their bed.

"So, you wanted to talk?" Tornac prompted.

"Are you seriously still interested in me?" Eragon blurted and blushed.

The two looked stumped.

"I mean, if Saphira hadn't known, she would have guessed. You aren't really being subtle."

"Ouch," Tornac said and leaned back. "What does that say about us, hm?" he said pointedly and crocked an eyebrow at Murtagh.

"Tornac, you are incapable of being subtle," Murtagh answered. "You just flirt with everybody. How was I supposed to know you were being sincere?"

"Well, if _someone_ hadn't been so damn good at hiding their emotions."

Murtagh just rolled his eyes.

Eragon bit at his lower lip.

"We know that we can be a little blunt," Murtagh answered. "We had issues with not being forward before, hence why we needed to get drunk to actually move forward with our relationship. After that, we've basically just stopped even trying to be subtle."

"It wasn't working out for us," Tornac said and nudged Murtagh.

"Or what I just said," Murtagh drawled and shook his head.

"So..." Eragon trailed off.

"We are interested," Tornac answered.

Eragon looked down at his hands. "...Why?"

"You're cute, and while we have no problems in our relationship, it's always fun to try out something new every now and then," the blond said.

Eragon looked at them through his bangs. "But you've done this before."

"That is true, but we didn't connect as well with that guy as we do with you," Tornac explained and smiled. "The other guy was basically a drunken thing. I mean, we weren't drunk out of our minds. We knew we wanted to give it a try. The alcohol helped to get the courage to ask."

Eragon fiddled with his hands. There was a question burning on his tongue, but he really didn't have the courage to ask it.

"You can ask us," Murtagh said suddenly.

He jumped and looked up at the other two. Apparently he was about as subtle as they were.

"Um..." Eragon licked his lips. "We're just talking some fun, right? Nothing...nothing, um, permanent?"

Murtagh and Tornac shared a look. "Nothing permanent," Murtagh answered for them both. "At least, not yet. Taking the step of actually adding another person to a relationship is not something that should be taken lightly. And as much as we like you, we're not sure we're ready for anything like that. Or if we ever will be."

Eragon nodded. He felt relieved. While he had been in two short and slightly disastrous relationships, he was definitely not ready for anything like that either.

"We're not going to pressure you into anything," Tornac assured him.

Eragon gave a weak smile. "I know that."

"You can leave whenever you want," the blond continued. "If you want us to stop, you just say the word and we will. If you want us to stay away from you, just let us know."

"God, you make it sound so dramatic," Eragon said and tried to laugh, but found that he couldn't. He was too nervous.

"We respect you," Murtagh said and leaned forward, his hands clasped and dangling between his legs. "We just want you to know that."

"But we won't deny that we're sexually attracted to you," Tornac said and put an arm around Murtagh's shoulders. Eragon saw Murtagh unconsciously lean closer to his boyfriend.

Eragon envied them that closeness. He had never felt that close to anyone, especially not the two he had been in a 'relationship' with. He was closer to his friends than he had been to any lover.

He wondered silently if the reason for their closeness was that they had been friends before they were lovers, or if they simply were that perfect for each other.

"Whatever happens next is up to you," Murtagh said.

Eragon was struck by a sense of déjà vu. When they had first invited him to join them, he had thought that he could walk away and they wouldn't miss him that much. He still believed that. He could tell without asking that they didn't have any problems with their sex life.

But the same feeling struck him. He didn't want to leave. Something about them pulled him in.

"How about we talk a bit?" Murtagh suggested.

Eragon could do that. He nodded. "I'd like that."

Murtagh smiled.

Eragon felt the air leave his lungs. He had seen Murtagh smirk, but he had never seen him smile genuinely. He had never seen anything so captivating before.

"Come on, then. Before you stun him into permanent silence with your smoulder," Tornac said and poked Murtagh.

Murtagh rolled his eyes and bopped Tornac over the head. And even though Tornac covered the area and mock-glared at Murtagh, Eragon could see there hadn't been any force behind the blow.

Eragon found himself wishing that he managed to find someone he clicked with half as well as Murtagh and Tornac did with each other, then he would be more than happy.

**::Seen It All::**

Despite having clarified the, ah, _circumstances_ with the couple and even though nothing seemed to be happening, Eragon didn't feel like leaving. So once Tornac started to talk, Eragon quickly found himself captivated.

He wasn't sure how long he spent there talking to the couple, and he didn't really care either. He had a key to the room. Saphira would probably tease him fiercely when he came back, but so be it. He was actually enjoying himself.

"I tell you, you haven't seen everything until you have seen Murtagh first thing in the morning," Tornac was saying. "For instance, let's look at the fatal day we woke up here in Surda, completely hungover."

"Tornac -"

"Murtagh can be one moody bitch, especially when he's dealing with a hangover. Sorry, love," he added and patted Murtagh's leg. "I still love you."

"I swear, if you tell this story -" Murtagh began again, but Tornac cut him off once more.

"So I wake up to Murtagh swearing. And when Murtagh curses, he could make a sailor blush," Tornac said and winked.

Murtagh hid his face in his hands and grunted.

"We're both hungover and disoriented. Murtagh, being his charming self, says 'what the fuck are you fucking doing here?' and I say that 'hey, it's my room too'. Murtagh quickly corrects himself and says 'no, I mean what. the. fuck. are. you. doing. in my bed?'," he said, mimicking Murtagh's voice almost perfectly.

Eragon felt the urge to laugh at Tornac's impersonation. He could practically hear Murtagh saying those things.

"Then Murtagh tries to move, and cue more swearing," Tornac continued, looking almost proud. "Let's just say we had been very busy the night before."

Murtagh promptly elbowed him in the side, causing the other to yelp.

"And then let's just say he continued to cuss and growl at me for the better part of an hour before leaving. Then he promptly tried to avoid me," he said and all-but pouted at Murtagh. Murtagh ignored him. "I still can't believe you did that."

"Hn."

Eragon couldn't stop himself from laughing. He sent Tornac a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"It's ok," Tornac assured him. "Anyway, so I had to corner the guy. Of course, Murtagh being the escapist that he is, somehow managed to avoid me until the very last night here. A little bit of liquid courage on my side, a lot of cursing on his side and then we ended up in the sack again. We have scarcely left it since."

Murtagh elbowed him again.

"Ow! What did I do?"

"TMI," Murtagh stated dryly.

"He's seen us naked," Tornac pointed out.

"Not the same, Tornac," the other said and sighed. "You'll have to excuse him. He overshares."

Eragon shook his head and pretended he wasn't blushing. "It's ok."

"Awww, look, Murtagh. He's blushing. How cute."

Eragon felt his blush deepen.

Murtagh rolled his eyes and nudged Tornac. "Stop it, already. I know you're horny, but there are limits."

"Sky's the limit," Tornac said and winked.

"Don't listen to him," Murtagh said and shoved Tornac backwards. "He's a little demented. Doesn't know what he's saying half of the time."

"Oi!" the other protested. "Seriously, why do I stay with you? You insult me more than you're nice to me."

"Pick your reason," Murtagh stated simply. "I'm sure you have a list somewhere, and for your sake it better not be just filled with sexual points."

Tornac gave Murtagh an innocent look.

Eragon once again thought that they really had a weird relationship. Murtagh was constantly insulting Tornac, though clearly he didn't mean it, and Tornac flirted with just about anyone though he clearly didn't mean it either.

Eragon checked the time and noted that it was getting a little late. While he was enjoying talking to them, he was getting tired.

"I think I'm going to head to bed, guys," he said sheepishly and stood up.

Tornac almost pouted. Eragon recognised the look. Aksel performed it religiously if he someone tried to deprive him of candy, music or his video games.

"We're still going to be here for a few days. I'm sure I'll see you guys around."

"Why don't we make some plans?" Tornac suggested eagerly. "Tomorrow is Sunday. Some things are bound to be closed. Why don't we all meet up around lunch and go somewhere? See some of the things this place has to offer?"

"You want to go sight-seeing?" Murtagh drawled in disbelief.

"It's not like I've seen a lot of Reavstone outside of this hotel and the beach," the blond answered and looked at Murtagh pointedly. Eragon could see the hint of lust in his eyes.

"And whose fault is that, hm?" Murtagh answered easily.

Tornac just smirked.

"Uh, sure. I'll tell the others at breakfast," Eragon agreed.

"Lovely," Tornac said and stood as well.

Eragon blanked for a moment when Tornac hugged him. He thankfully managed to pull himself back to the present in time to hug him back. Honestly, sometimes Eragon really hated his mind and how it would just freeze.

Murtagh got up and gave him a hug as well.

Eragon was surprised that he didn't automatically respond sexually to them even from a hug, but he was also relieved by it. Maybe they really could be friends, then.

The brunet let himself out of the room and managed to walk down the hall without looking back.

**::Seen It All::**

"Tell me everything!" Saphira said the instant Eragon walked into their room.

Eragon blinked. Saphira had changed into her pyjamas and removed her make-up, but everything else said that she wasn't nearly ready to go to bed. The TV was on and she wasn't even lying under the covers. Clearly she had been waiting for him.

Eragon sighed. "Can I change at least?"

Saphira's entire face lit up. Eragon then quickly realised what that sounded like. He blushed.

"We didn't have sex!" he spluttered.

Saphira's face fell slightly. "No?"

Eragon shook his head and headed for his suitcase.

"Then what happened?"

He grabbed his sleep-wear and headed for the bathroom. "One minute, ok?" he said and closed the door before she could answer.

As he got ready for bed, Eragon had to wince. Saphira was most likely going to make him tell her everything that had happened, even if they had only talked. It truly was in his best interest to play along.

This was one of those times Eragon wished Saphira wasn't so interested in gay sex and/or his sex life.

It took him more than a minute, but apparently Saphira was feeling generous as she didn't plough down his door when the minute was up. Eragon padded out in his loose t-shirt and pyjama pants. He didn't get under the covers as he was sure they would be up for at least another thirty minutes.

Saphira muted the TV and looked at him pointedly.

He sighed. "We just talked."

"Elaborate."

Eragon did. He told her the stories that Tornac had told him and the other topics they had touched on. He told her about his bold questions last.

Saphira's eyes widened. "I'm proud of you, Eragon. I know it must have taken a lot of courage for you to ask that questions."

The brunet blushed. "Well, sure, but I felt I had to ask."

She nodded. "And what did they say?"

Eragon hesitated. "They're still sexually attracted to me, but they're just interested in some fun. Nothing serious," he forced himself to say. His cheeks burned softly as he did so. He had never been very good at talking about his sex life, even to Saphira who he usually told everything to.

She nodded sagely. "I figured. You are too cute to resists, after all," she said and giggled.

He blushed darker. "Saph!"

Saphira winked at him. "I'm surprised they let you go after that bomb."

Eragon licked his bottom lip. "Actually, I asked that at the very beginning. The story Tornac told me about the beginning of their relationship was the last thing we talked about before I left."

She crocked an eyebrow. "Left the _pièce_de résistance for last, hm?"

Eragon shrugged sheepishly.

"Well, I will be happy to spend the afternoon with them tomorrow," she said and finally got under the covers. Eragon copied her. "I can't wait to see them ogle you some more."

Eragon spluttered and nearly fell out of the bed when he pulled too hard at the covers. "Saphira!"

She laughed and turned off the lights. "Good night, Eragon," she said teasingly.

Eragon muttered darkly and pulled the covers over himself. "Night yourself."

She giggled again before falling silent.

Eragon fell asleep wondering what the next day would have in store.

* * *

**A/N** Fun fact: I think it was no more than two-ish weeks since I got a review asking if I could pretty please update. Back then, I didn't even have half of chapter four written, and now...now the story has shown me who really is boss (which was supposed to be me, dammit!). So I can hereby announce that there is going to be six chapters to this story instead of the previously planned five. Hnf.

As for chapter five. Well, since this story was only supposed to have five chapters, I've had to move things around a bit and come up with a few filler scenes. I haven't even started writing chapter five yet, so you will have to bear with me.

The reason I've been able to very active right now is because I'm in-between classes, sort of. I have time off from one class and the next course for my other class starts on Monday. But come Monday I will be busier again. Thankfully I do have a few chapters written up, so I'll hopefully be able to update a little more normally. At least, until the first week of May. Then I have an exam and will most likely be pretty dead. :faint:

But that's all for now, I think. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you again soon!


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